Speech Corner – Pronouns

Pronouns              

A pronoun is a word that takes the place of a noun (e.g. he, she, his, her, myself etc.). Children with Developmental Language Disorder often have difficulty with pronouns. Pronoun errors can include;

  • “Me want to go” instead of “I want to go”
  • “He is playing” instead of “she is playing”
  • “Him hurt himself” instead of “he hurt himself”

Here are some strategies you can use to help your child use the correct pronouns;

  • Provide a good model for your child by using pronouns in conversation and games
  • Use pronouns when describing pictures in story books (g. “look, she is jumping! She is jumping really high”)
  • If your child makes a pronoun error, repeat back what they said with the correct pronoun (g. Child – “he is playing”, Adult – “she is playing. She is playing soccer. I think she likes playing soccer.). Emphasise the pronoun and model its use as many times as possible.

Speech Pathology Team