Why not to correct your toddler’s speech—and what to do instead

As your toddler learns to speak, they may make adorable mistakes, like calling blocks “bocks” and trucks “ducks.” These types of mispronunciations are bound to happen and rarely cause for concern. But how you respond can make a difference in both their language development and how your toddler feels about it.

Why do toddlers mispronounce words?

Your toddler’s brain has been picking up on sound patterns in language since before birth. At this stage, they’re an expert in hearing the specific sounds, or phonemes, of their home language. But articulating those sounds is trickier.

Enunciation involves coordinating many parts of their mouth, including their lips, tongue, teeth, jaw, and palate. Right now, your toddler can only pronounce a handful of the many phonemes that make up the language they’re learning. It’ll take a few more years before they’ll say them all clearly. 

If your toddler mispronounces a word, it’s probably because:

1. They can’t form all of the speech sounds yet.
2. They’re still learning how the word should sound—a word like “spaghetti” has a lot of sounds to sort out 🙃
3. They’re overgeneralizing a speech rule, like adding an “s” to make a plural or saying “mouses” instead of mice. 

Regardless of the cause, all your toddler needs is time and practice to get the hang of word pronunciation. Because their brain is primed to learn language, you don’t have to do much to help this process along.  

What to do when your toddler mispronounces a word

Resist the urge to imitate

Because their brain hones in on repetition, they’ll also pick up on patterns of mispronunciation. Imitating their sweet mistakes is tempting, but it may inadvertently reinforce them. 

Imitating them could also embarrass or frustrate them. Because your toddler hears more sounds than they can say, they may already know their pronunciation is “wrong” or think they are saying the word clearly. 

Continue to use the word correctly during natural conversation

Simply restating the word a few times as you continue to talk allows your toddler to hear the correct sounds and watch your mouth move. For example, if your toddler says “nana” instead of “banana,” you could say, “Do you want a banana? Bananas are delicious.” Your toddler may keep saying “nana” for a while as they learn how to put together all the syllables. But once their mouth and mind sync up, you’ll hear “banana” instead. 

Avoid explicitly correcting them

If your toddler says, “tar” instead of “car,” just roll with it 😉 An obvious correction like, “No, it’s actually CAR. C-C-C-CAR,” forces your toddler to stop and think about what they’re saying. Instead of helping, this interruption to a mostly automatic process may just confuse them.

Learn more about the research

Best, C. T., Tyler, M. D., Gooding, T. N., Orlando, C. B., & Quann, C. A. (2009). Development of phonological constancy: Toddlers’ perception of native-and Jamaican-accented words. Psychological Science, 20(5), 539-542.

Kuhl, P. K. (2004). Early language acquisition: Cracking the speech code. Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 5(11), 831-843.

Mani, N., & Plunkett, K. (2007). Phonological specificity of vowels and consonants in early lexical representations. Journal of Memory and Language, 57(2), 252-272.