PURPOSE: to quantitatively analyze the relationship between the spontaneous use of nouns and verbs by preschool children with normal language development, as well as to analyze the classification of the verbs used on the same speech sample. METHODS: speech samples of sixty preschoolers were gathered in educational context through playful interaction. For data analysis the children were divided into three groups, paired by gender and age: GI (between 2:0 and 2:11 years), GII (between 3:0 and 3:11 years) and GIII (between 4:0 and 4:11 years). RESULTS: data analysis showed that the use of verbs prevailed in all age groups, with no difference between genders. Regarding types of verbs, both genders had similar performance: intransitive verbs were more frequent, followed by copula in GI and GII and direct transitive verbs in GIII. CONCLUSION: the results showed that the preschoolers studied used more verbs than nouns since their second year of life. Intransitive verbs were the most frequently observed in all age ranges, followed by copula for two- and three-year-olds and by direct transitive verbs for four-year-olds. Finally, no significant differences were found between genders for any of the aspects studied.
Language Development; Child Language; Vocabulary; Child
