How many words should a child say by age 2

Communication and Your 1- to 2-Year-Old (for Parents)

Reviewed by: Mary L. Gavin, MD

en español La comunicación y su hijo de 1 a 2 años

Language development starts to take off during this time, especially as children near their second birthday.

Kids this age are better able to understand what is said to them and express what they want through words and gestures. They take joy in their ability to understand directions — and also like to give directions of their own.

Most kids say 1–2 words by 15 months and 3 or more words by 18 months. By 2 years old, most toddlers are saying even more words and can put together 2-word sentences.

No matter when they say their first words, it's a sure bet they already understand much of what you say. Your child should be able to respond to simple commands ("Roll the ball to Mommy") and look at or point to familiar objects when you name them.

Toddles use more gestures, like blowing a kiss, pointing to something they want, or nodding yes. Gestures will get more complex over this year as toddlers use them to imitate actions, express themselves, and play.

Your child's vocabulary will grow quickly, but pronunciation isn't likely to keep pace. By 2 years of age, most kids are understandable only about half the time. But emphasize the correct pronunciations in your responses.

• Use correct names. Your little one is listening to everything you say and storing it away at an incredible rate. Instead of using "baby" words, use the correct names for people, places, and things. Speak slowly and clearly and keep it simple.
• Respond to your child’s gestures. Gestures are an important part of language development. Encourage kids to respond and participate in conversations by making the connection between their gestures and language. For example, ask, "Do you want a drink?" (when your child points to the refrigerator), then wait for a response. Then say, "What do you want? Milk? OK, let's get some milk."
• Continue singing and playing rhyming games. Your child will probably enjoy gesture games (like “Itsy Bitsy Spider”) and identifying things (such as body parts, pictures, or objects) and familiar people: "Where's your ear?", "Show me the ball," and "Where is Mommy?"
• Read colorful picture books and encourage your child to turn the pages and find things on the page.

Most children meet these language milestones during this period:

• try to say 1–2 words other than “mama” or “dada” by 15 months
• look at a familiar object when you name it by 15 months
• say 3 or more words by 18 months
• follow 1-step directions without gestures by 18 months
• when you ask, point to things in a book and at least 2 body parts by age 2
• put at least 2 words together, like “more milk,” by age 2

Some parents worry that a toddler who is not speaking may have autism. Doctors look for signs of autism at every checkup and do screening tests for autism at 18 months and 2 years.

If you have any questions or concerns about your child's development, talk with your doctor.

Reviewed by: Mary L. Gavin, MD

Date reviewed: May 2022

2 Year Old Milestones - Speech & Language + Checklist — Toddler Talk

Speech & Language Milestones24 - 36 Months24-36 Months

Feb 2

Written By Stephanie Keffer

How many words should 24 month olds say? And what can 2 year olds understand?

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At 24 months old, the number of words speech therapists expect to hear continues to increase substantially! And 2 year olds seem to be talking all the time!

2 year olds say between 100 to 500 words roughly.  

As the number of words 2 year olds say increases, they will begin to say more verbs (action words) and adjectives (descriptive words). This is important because it sets the stage for them to start talking in short sentences. 

If you are looking to support your toddler in expanding the number of the words your toddler can say, check out one of our free lessons (links below) which will teach you the most powerful things you can do as their parents to encourage them to talk. 

• Links to lessons:

  1. Teaching toddlers new words using focused stimulation

  2. How face-to-face helps toddlers learn to talk

  3. How asking less questions can help your toddler learn to talk

  4. Following your toddler’s imagination to practice speech at home

At 24 months children will most often tell you what they need by saying a word or phrase.

That’s because their vocabulary has grown to have enough words that they can tell you specifically what they want and need. 

Even though they are using words to ask for things most of the time, 24 month olds may use gestures, sounds or words. Even though toddler’s language skills are developing rapidly, 2 year olds will continue to use non-verbal forms of communication like gestures (pointing for example) and facial expressions.  It’s expected that toddlers continue using all the communication strategies they have learned up until this point. The two most important things to look for is that 24 month olds are using a combination of communication strategies (including each of the following: gestures, sounds, and words) and that they are using words and phrases more frequently as they continue to develop their language skills.

Around the time that toddler’s can say 100+ words,

24 month olds will say 2 or a few words together, like “More juice” and “Mama look me!” to express their wants and needs. The ability to put words together when talking will dramatically increase the number of messages that toddlers can communicate. This contributes to the transition from communicating predominately with gestures to mostly with words. 

Fun Fact: Toddlers will usually learn the words for their favorite things first. These words are often heard ahead of others because 2 year olds are more motivated to try to say them. 

In speech therapy, the number of words a 2 year old knows is more words than they can say. It will be hard to actually calculate the number of words they know, or understand, because the number is so large. 

If you were to calculate the number of words 2 year olds know, you would count well over 1,000 words.  

What parents are able to observe is an increase in the number of directions 2 year olds can follow and their ability to begin to answer different questions. 

Toddlers at this age are able to follow directions with one or two actions. For example, “Close the refrigerator” and “Get your cup and put it on the table.” If they aren’t able to follow directions the first time, they will learn to follow them with a little bit of practice. 

Similarly, toddlers will begin to answer “wh” questions when they are 2 years old. Questions like “What do you have?” “What are you doing?” and “Who is in the kitchen?” will become increasingly easier to answer. 

Whereas language has to do with how many words your toddler can say, speech language pathologists use the term “speech” to refer to how clearly toddlers say words.

When it comes to 2 year old speech milestones, the most important milestone has to do with speech intelligibility, or how clearly your child is speaking. At 24 months old you want to be sure that you are understanding at least half of the things your little one says. Speaking clearly (at least 50% of the time) is an indicator that your child’s speech skills are developing on track. As your toddler approaches their 3rd birthday they will become even easier to understand.

To learn more about speech intelligibility and 2 year old speech milestones continue reading here.

As a parent, you always want the best for your child. And it can be very challenging and worrisome if you feel like your child’s development might be falling behind.  

How does your toddler "tell" you things?

▢ Says more words than you can count; Seems to have a word for just about everything

▢ Says a variety of words: nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs

▢ Puts 2 words together

▢ Uses words to express their wants, needs, ideas, and feelings

▢ Repeats back 2-3+ word phrases regularly

What words does your toddler know?

▢ Answers some “wh” questions: who, what

▢ Follows directions that have 1 action: give me the cup, close the door, wash your hands

▢ Listens to my directions in safety situations: No! Stop!

▢ Has back and forth "conversations" even if you can't understand what they are saying

▢ Continues to learn the meaning of new words when introduced to new things

Which sounds should you be listening for?

▢ Pronounces most Consonant Sounds: P, B, T, D, K, G, M, N, H, W, F

▢ Vowel Sounds: Is able to pronounce all the vowel sounds

▢ You can understand 50-75% of what your child says

▢ May leave consonant sounds off the ends of words

▢ Developmental Stuttering may occur at this age - read more here

How does your little one play and interact with others?

▢ Enjoys having conversations with familiar children and adults

▢ Pays attention to an activity they like for several minutes

▢ Anticipates what is going to happen next during your daily routines

▢ Understands other people's tone of voice

▢ Knows how to get your attention or ask for help when needed

Play “hide and go seek” with your child’s toys! This activity is a great opportunity to practice answering questions with your child in a way that they don’t feel on the spot.  

Hide your first toy, let’s say you hide a car under the couch cushion and your child watches you hide it. Once you have “hidden” the object, ask “Where’s the car?” while searching together. 

You ask, “Is it under the blanket?” and respond “No!” Then you look under the couch cushion; “Is it under the cushion?” and respond “Yes!” 

Or maybe they don’t answer you, but they are still having fun! Fun is the most important component of at home practice!

If your child doesn’t answer at first, give them a few seconds to think. It might take several seconds to come up with their answers. 

And if after waiting they still don’t respond, you can answer for them! No need to ask them to repeat the answer or say it themselves. Remember, listening to your example is an important step in the learning process. 

Continue hiding and finding objects with your child, and give them the opportunity to be the one to hide their toys. As we said, two year olds like to be in control!

As you play together, look for your toddler to:

▢ Begin to answer some simple “wh” questions - Where is it? What are we looking for?

▢ Begin to ask some of the same questions you’ve repeated during your play

Here’s a list of other common questions asked by parents of 2 year olds:

• At 2 years old children are learning to walk, talk, run, climb, jump, and eat (without as big of a mess!). The focus from these early developmental skills towards academic skills usually occurs after 3 years old (preschool age).

• A 2 year old should have a word to ask for most things that they want or need. As a general rule of thumb, speech therapists will listen for 2 year olds to say at least 100 words.

• 3 Common signs of a speech delay at 2 years old are:

  • your child is not talking yet

  • your child hasn’t started putting words together

  • your child has a hard time understanding

  To learn more about speech delay continue reading here.

• As a general rule of thumb, parents should listen for their 2 year old to say at least 100 different words that they can understand. It’s okay if other people who spend time with your child can understand less, in fact that would be expected.

  Learn more about milestones for clarity of speech here.

Should a 2 year old be talking clearly?

Listen for 24 month olds to speak clearly 50-75% of the time. By the time children are 3 years old, speech therapists listen for them to speak clearly 75-100% of the time.

How many words should a 2 year old say clearly?

As a general rule of thumb, parents should listen for their 2 year old to say at least 100 different words that they can understand. It’s okay if other people who spend time with your child can understand less, in fact that would be expected.

Should I be worried if my 2 year old isn’t talking?

If your 2 year old isn’t talking a speech and language evaluation is recommended in order to support your child in growing their communication skills. Read more about how to find a speech therapist near you here.

Written By: Stephanie Keffer, MS CCC-SLP

© 2020-2023. Stephanie Keffer, MS CCC-SLP. All Rights Reserved

The content offered on ToddlerTalk.com is for informational purposes only. Toddler Talk is not engaged in rendering professional advice, whether medical or otherwise, to individual users or their children or families. No content on this site, regardless of date, should ever be used as a substitute for direct medical advice from your doctor, speech language pathologist, or other health professional. By accessing the content on ToddlerTalk.com, you acknowledge and agree that you are accepting the responsibility for your child’s health and well-being. In return for providing you with information related to home speech and language practice, you waive any claims that you or your child may have as a result of utilizing the content on ToddlerTalk.com.

At Home Speech PracticeSpeech and Language MilestonesToddler Speech MilestonesToddler Language Milestones24 month old2 year olds

Stephanie Keffer

Early Childhood Speech Development Calendar

Early childhood is considered a very important period in a child's life.

This is the time of the most rapid and rapid changes in the mental and physical development of the baby, the child takes the first steps, learns to speak, begins to use gestures and other means of communication.

3 weeks - 1 month - there is a cry indicating emotional discomfort, pain or hunger. With physical stress, the child groans, making the sounds "a", "e".

2 - 3 months : the baby has a cooing, he utters simple sounds - " a", "y", "s ", sometimes in combination with " g ". This is an important stage in the development of speech in young children.

4 - 6 months - makes high melodious sounds, sounds of exclamation, reacts with joyful sounds to the faces of loved ones.

6 - 9 months - babbling, he repeats the same syllables (“ma-ma-ma”, “ba-ba-ba”, “dya-dya-dya”, “gu-gu-gu”).

9 - 11 months - the baby begins to imitate the sounds of adult speech.

11 - 14 months - the first meaningful words "mom", "dad", "woman", "uncle" appear, from 8 to 14 words. Correlates a word with an object

By the age of 2 years there are 100-200 words in the baby's vocabulary. He is already building a sentence of 2-3 words.

By the age of 3 the volume of the dictionary increases to 1000 words by enriching the child's life experience. Simple prepositions appear: in, on, under, for, with, at. The child remembers poems, children's songs.

By the end of 3 years , most children are able to construct sentences grammatically correctly, conduct dialogues, tell what they have seen and heard.

Important to know:

Do not listen to advice from other parents whose children began to say after 3 years that the child will speak on his own. He will speak, the only question is what kind of speech it will be, its quality.

How to identify the signs of a speech disorder in a child?

By the end of 1 month the baby does not cry before feeding

By the end of 4 months does not smile when his mother talks to him, does not coo.

By the end of the 5th month does not listen to sounds and music

By the end of the 7th month does not react to the intonation of the voice, does not recognize the mother’s voice with a “revitalization complex” syllables for adults

By the end of 1 year the child does not wave his head when saying goodbye in denial. He does not utter a single word and does not follow simple instructions: “give”, “on”, “take”.

By the age of 1.5, does not show or name mom and dad, does not build a tower of blocks, does not differentiate sounding toys, does not use a pointing gesture.

By age 2 does not show body parts, does not show mom and dad in the photo, does not follow the two-step instruction (go to the kitchen and put the plate on the table)

By the age of 2.5, does not distinguish between “big and small”, does not communicate with children.

By the age of 3, cannot give his first and last name, tell a simple poem and a fairy tale.

If this does not happen, there is a reason to contact specialists.

Possible causes of speech disorders

• Viral and endocrine diseases of the mother, threatened miscarriage, trauma, toxicosis, low hemoglobin level.
• Genetic anomalies, hereditary predisposition.
• Unfavorable delivery.
• Diseases borne by a child in the first years of life
• Babies with low Apgar scores at birth

The exact cause of the disorders is determined by the doctor, and the type of speech disorder is determined by the speech therapist.

So what can parents do to improve speech development?

Speech is the highest mental function, so the period of intrauterine development of a child is very important. Parents need to take care of the development of speech even before his birth. It is important that the expectant mother receives only positive emotions i.

Communicate more with your baby! Goodwill, a soft and calm voice, grammatically correct speech is another important factor in the development of speech.

Often, children, using only a pointing gesture, get what they want. Teach your child to express his desires as fully as possible, say new words, sentences.

Do not scold your child for mispronounced words. This can provoke neurotic reactions. He will shut up, stop speaking and learning new words.

Develop your baby's ability to listen and pay attention. Play games with him that help him develop his ability to listen and hear: “Listen, what's ticking there? And what's that noise?" Let the baby learn to distinguish between speech and non-speech sounds (environmental sounds).

Teach your child fairy tales, poems, because memorizing them and repeating, he learns new words, trains memory and attention.

Important to know:

Speech disorders can be corrected - it is important not to waste time!

Author-compiler: Mikhnovich O. F. teacher-speech therapist

Development of speech by two years

Just yesterday, your baby was gurgling happily, lying in the crib, and grabbing his big toe. Today he is already stomping after you to the kitchen and, for example, asks for a drink. And how does he do it? Does he say something like “mom, pi” (mom, drink), “give moko” (give milk) or just point his finger in the right direction and “moo”? One way or another, one day any mother has the question “Does my child speak well?” Let's try to figure it out.

Until the age of three, children's speech skills are manifested quite individually. However, there are certain patterns inherent in all children. This article contains the main indicators of speech development by the age of two. So, you don't have to worry if:

• the child understands what is shown in the picture . Ask him to show where the car is going, who is sitting on a branch (just don't demand an exact definition of the species / genus / family of the bird :)), what the girl is doing, etc.

• the aforementioned species/families are not yet available to the child, but he knows that any bird is a bird, a bed is not only the thing where he sleeps, but also all other objects similar to it, etc. That is, the little one - generalizes .

• the baby is already able to make your life easier by performing simple tasks from 2 parts (such as "sunny, take the cup to the table and bring the remote control" :) ).

• no less important at this age is the ability to understand spatial prepositions (B, ON, etc.) This is what helps the child put the remote ON the table, and not UNDER it.

• after 1.5 years, children begin to ask questions "What is it?", "What is it called?" (the peak of the “why-why” age is three years old).

• number of words used miscellaneous - from 50 to 500 . Moreover, for girls, these are mainly nouns, for boys - verbs. It is indicative that both those and others have the word “give” .

• But, no matter how many words there are, by the age of two, the child must speak the phrase , i.e. combine at least two words. For example, “mom, let me”, “b-be-boo” (the car fell), “pa pi” (dad is sleeping), etc.

• verbs are mainly used in the imperative mood (give, sit, go).

• the pronoun "I" appears , as well as the first person of the verbs ("I'm going", "I'll sit down").

• typical incorrect pronunciation of most sounds of native speech. Moreover, the sound can be pronounced either correctly, or incorrectly, or completely disappear.

• complex according to the syllabic composition words are simplified (part of the syllables are removed, for example, “mitzan” instead of “policeman”, “avaim” instead of “aquarium”, etc.

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