Trouble Saying Certain Sounds

Children learn speech sounds gradually, over several years, so a child who talks plenty can still say some sounds differently. The American Speech-Language-Hearing Association says some sounds, like p, m and w, come early, while others, like z, v and th, take longer, and it describes mistakes along the way as part of how speech develops.

What you’ll learn

• Which speech sounds come early and which take longer
• How trouble with one sound differs from a pattern across many
• Everyday ways to help, and why an accent is not a mistake
• Who checks speech sounds, and what a visit involves

Hard Time Saying Certain Sounds: What Should I Do?

Saying a sound differently is often part of learning it, so a useful first step is simply to notice which sounds change and in which words. The American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) tells families that young children saying the wrong sound sometimes is expected, with “wabbit” for “rabbit” as its example, and that it may be a problem if a child goes on saying words that way while growing older.

Day to day, help comes through ordinary conversation: speaking clearly, and answering your child in a way that shows you understood. If you are unsure whether what you hear is part of learning, a speech-language pathologist can listen to every sound your child uses, and a full evaluation includes a check of hearing.

Accents and Dialects Are Not Errors

How a person says sounds depends on their culture and background, the languages or dialects they speak, their accent and their community, and ASHA is plain that saying sounds differently for these reasons is not a speech sound disorder. Its clinical guidance adds that when a dialect does not use certain sounds, leaving them out is not counted as an error pattern.

Which Speech Sounds Come Early, and Which Come Later?

Speech sounds arrive gradually as part of speech and language development. Among its milestones for 2 to 3 years, ASHA lists saying p, b, m, h, w, d and n correctly in words, and among its milestones for 3 to 4 years, saying t, k, g, f, y and the -ing ending correctly in words.

The same 3-to-4-year page notes that a child may still make mistakes on sounds that develop later, which ASHA names as l, j, r, sh, ch, s, v, z and th. ASHA also says each child develops uniquely, even within one family, and may meet some milestones sooner or later than other children do.

A 2020 review by Crowe and McLeod pooled 15 studies covering 18,907 children learning English in the United States and reported that most consonants were acquired by age 5, giving an age band for each consonant across the children studied:

• 2 years to 2 years 11 months: b, n, m, p, h, w and d
• 3 years to 3 years 11 months: g, k, f, t, y and the “ng” in “sing”
• 4 years to 4 years 11 months: v, j, s, ch, l, sh and z
• 5 years to 5 years 11 months: r, the “th” in “that” and the “zh” sound in “measure”
• 6 years to 6 years 11 months: the “th” in “think”

The studies in that review mostly had children name single words, and their results differed because of different tests, criteria and groups of children. The bands describe a large group, so they show the order sounds tend to arrive in, not a deadline for any one child.

One Hard Sound, or a Pattern Across Many Sounds?

ASHA’s clinical definition of a speech sound disorder covers hearing and telling sounds apart, physically making them, and the way sounds are organized in a child’s sound system, alone or in combination. Within that, ASHA separates two kinds of difficulty. Articulation is about motor production, the mouth movements for making a particular sound, while phonology is about the linguistic side, the sound rules a child is using.

A phonological pattern is a rule that changes a whole group of sounds, a combination such as two consonants together, or the shape of a syllable, and a child can show single-sound errors, patterns, or both. ASHA’s examples of patterns young children commonly show are written in phonetic symbols, and in ordinary spelling they come out roughly like this:

• Fronting. A sound made at the back of the mouth is swapped for one made at the front, as in “tat” for “cat” or “date” for “gate”.
• Final consonant deletion. The last consonant drops off, as in “bu” for “bus”.
• Stopping. Sounds such as f and s turn into stop sounds, as in “pun” for “fun” or “tee” for “see”.
• Cluster reduction. Two consonants together shrink to one, as in “top” for “stop”.
• Gliding. One example ASHA gives is “wabbit” for “rabbit”.
• Weak syllable deletion. A weak syllable drops out, as in “nana” for “banana”.

ASHA says these patterns usually fade as children get older, though the age varies greatly from child to child, especially for a child who uses more than one dialect. Noticing which sounds change, and whether the same change turns up across many words, gives a speech-language pathologist a useful starting point.

From clinical practice

When “cat” becomes “tat” and “gate” becomes “date,” two sounds made at the back of the mouth are moving forward together. ASHA describes that as a sound rule. It is a different kind of difficulty from trouble making one sound.

The sound a family notices is usually the one heard most at home, and it may belong to a wider pattern like this one. That is why every sound a child uses, across many different words, is heard before anyone decides what to work on.

Helping With Sounds in Everyday Conversation

ASHA’s tips for parents of 2- to 4-year-olds are about how adults talk: speak clearly and model good speech, and repeat what your child says to show you understood, then add to it. If “tat” comes out while your child points at the cat, a reply such as “Yes, the cat is asleep” does both, because your child hears the sound said clearly in an answer to what they meant.

One approach ASHA describes for clinicians, naturalistic speech intelligibility intervention, works on target sounds during everyday activities and recasts a child’s errors, meaning says them back correctly, without asking the child to imitate. Approaches differ, so whether to ask for a word again is a good question for the speech-language pathologist, and families already in therapy can read more about practice at home between therapy sessions.

A short note of words that come out differently is worth keeping, with the word your child meant written beside how it sounded. ASHA suggests clinicians ask parents of young children, and of children who are hard to understand, for a log like this and for recordings of the child talking at home.

When Is It Worth Asking About Speech Sounds?

You can ask a speech-language pathologist about your child’s sounds whenever a question is on your mind. Two things ASHA names are worth raising: sound errors that carry on as a child grows, and being hard to understand, even to people who know the child well, which ASHA lists among signs of a speech sound disorder for children aged 2 to 3.

How well other people follow your child deserves attention alongside the sounds themselves. If relatives, teachers or strangers often miss what your child says while you follow it easily, there is more on why familiar listeners understand more than strangers, and getting a speech evaluation walks through the routes to an appointment.

Who Checks Speech Sounds, and What the Visit Involves

Speech sounds are the work of a speech-language pathologist, who ASHA says helps children with speech sound problems as well as language, stuttering and voice, while an audiologist helps people who have trouble hearing. ASHA’s milestone pages point families to ASHA ProFind to find a certified professional in either field.

At the visit, ASHA says the speech-language pathologist listens to how your child says sounds and may also test language skills. ASHA’s clinical guidance adds a hearing check if one has not been done, and an oral mechanism examination, a look at the structure and movement of the lips, tongue and jaw, to see whether they work well enough for speech. If the tongue itself has been a question for you, there is more on tongue tie and late talking.

The evaluation can also include stimulability testing, which shows how well your child copies a sound after hearing it modeled, on its own or in a syllable, word or phrase. The case history asks about the languages and dialects used at home, any family history of speech, language, reading or writing difficulties, and how well others understand your child, so your notes and recordings are useful there.

Common Questions From Parents

At What Age Do Children Say All Their Sounds Clearly?

A 2020 review pooling data on 18,907 children found most consonants acquired by age 5, and the “th” in “think” in the last band, 6 years to 6 years 11 months. ASHA says each child develops uniquely, so these ages describe a group, not deadlines.

What Is the Difference Between Articulation and Phonological Problems?

Articulation is about the mouth movements for making particular sounds. Phonological problems involve the sound rules a child uses, and one rule can change a whole group of sounds, such as those made at the back of the mouth. ASHA notes a child can show both.

Is It Okay That My Child Says “w” for “r”?

ASHA uses “wabbit” for “rabbit” as its example of a mistake expected while children are young, and its 3-to-4-year milestones list r among later sounds. ASHA says it may become a problem when the same errors continue as a child grows.

Should I Correct My Child When a Word Comes Out Wrong?

ASHA’s tips are to speak clearly, model good speech, and say back what your child said with something added. Saying a word back correctly without asking for a repeat is one clinician approach, and a speech-language pathologist can advise on what suits your child.

Is an Accent or Dialect a Speech Problem?

No. ASHA states that an accent is not a speech or language disorder, and that sounds shaped by a person’s culture, community, languages or dialects are not a speech sound disorder either. Speech-language pathologists do not label a dialect’s own sound rules as errors.

Who Checks Speech Sounds?

A speech-language pathologist listens to how a child says each sound and may look at language as well, while an audiologist checks hearing. ProFind, run by ASHA, lists certified professionals in both fields for families looking for one.

Can Hearing Affect How a Child Says Sounds?

Hearing matters enough that ASHA advises families to have a child’s hearing checked, to rule out a hearing loss. Its clinical definition of a speech sound disorder also includes difficulty hearing and telling sounds apart, not only making them.

Reviewed by Monica d’Errico-Franklin, M.S., CCC-SLP

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