BROWN’S STAGES ANALYSIS WORKSHEET
Use in conjunction with: SSS-F1114 (Language Sample Worksheet) and
SSS-G1113 (Normal Expressive Language Development based on Brown’s Stages)
Student: __________________________________D.O.B: _________ C.A.: ____ yrs. _____mos. (mos.______)
School: _____________________________ SLP/SLT_____________________________ Date: ___________
Predicted Brown’s Linguistic Stage: _______ Predicted MLU based on age in mos.: _________to _________
# of words/morphemes: ___________ ÷ # of utterances: ____________ = Actual MLU: _______________
Structure
Stage: Example
Present progressive (ing)
II: running, eating
Plurals (s, z, ez)
II: Regular – cats, dogs, horses
Post V: Irregular –feet, children
Past tense
III: Irregular - came, fell, sat, ran
IV: Regular – (ed) walked, combed
Possessives (s, z, ez)
III: cat’s, dog’s, horse’s
3rd Person
V: Regular - (s, z) she walks, he combs
Post V: Irregular - has, says, does
Copula - (“TO BE” as main verb)
III: - is, am, are, was, were
Contracted Copula
V: It’s, I’m, we’re
Prepositions
II: in, out, on, off
III: under, with, of, for, to
IV: around, behind, prep. phrases V:
beside, in front of, next to
Articles
IV: a, an, the
Pronouns
I: I, me, mine
II: you, my, it, this, that
III: he, she, him, her, your, yours IV: his,
hers, us, they, we, them
V: himself, herself, myself, yourself,
our, ours, its, their, theirs
Negations
Early I: no, allgone, gone
Late I: no cookie
II: can’t, don’t + noun or verb
III: don’t, won’t + noun/verb phrase IV:
with auxiliary, isn’t running
V: wasn’t, wouldn’t, couldn’t
Post V: nobody, none, nothing
Date: 10/27/09, Rev. B
Age
Record examples of correct/incorrect usage
2.0-2.49
2.0-2.49
2.5-2.99
3.0-3.49
2.5-2.99
3.5-4.49
4.50 +
2.5-2.99
3.5-4.49
2.0-2.49
2.5-2.99
3.0-3.49
3.5-3.99
1.0-1.99
2.0-2.49
2.5-2.99
4.0-4.49
1.0-1.49
1.5-1.99
2.0-2.49
2.5-2.99
4.0-4.49
4.5 +
SSS-F1118
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Student:___________________________________________
WH questions
Early I: what, where
Late I: what doing, where going
III: why, who + sentence form e.g.
why you going
IV: when, how
V: why
Adjectives (er, est)
V: Comparatives - bigger, stronger
Post V: Superlatives - biggest,
strongest, smallest
Noun Derivation (er)
Post V: teacher, baker, dancer
Date:____________________________
1.0-1.49
1.5-1.99
2.5-2.99
3.0-3.49
4.0-4.49
4.0-4.49
4.5 +
4.5 +
Auxiliaries are forms of “TO BE” used as helping verbs.
There must be another main verb in the sentence
AUXILIARIES
Semi Auxiliary (Count
as ONE
morpheme)
III: gonna, wanna, hafta
Modal auxiliaries
IV: can, will;
V: could/couldn’t, would/ wouldn’t,
should/ shouldn’t
Auxiliary
Post V: is, am, are, was, + “ing”;
do, does, did, have, has, had
Contracted Auxiliary
Post V: they’re, he’s
2.5-2.99
3.5-3.99
4.0-4.49
4.5 +
4.5 +
Observations:
PRE LINGUISTIC STAGE (0-12 months)
Date: 10/27/09, Rev. B
SSS-F1118
Page 2 of 3
Student:___________________________________________



Date:____________________________
Turn taking begins through give-take games, peek-a-boo, so big
Communicative functions include attention seeking, greeting, protesting, directing attention to object/event,
and requesting action/object/social routine
Communicative behaviors include tugging, pointing, giving, looking, waving, pushing, crying, smiling
(foundation for emergence of words)
PRE STAGE I (Semantic Intentions) (0 to 16-months) MLU 0.00 to 1.0
 Gesture + vocalization
 Single words to communicate (approx. 13 months)
 Single words as semantic roles (approx. 12-18 months):
Existence: this, that
Nonexistence: no, gone, no-more,
all-gone, away
Recurrence: more, again, another
Negation/Rejection: no,
Location: here, there, up
Notice: hi, see, look, here
Social Interaction: hi, bye-bye,
night-night
EARLY STAGE I (16 to 26-month) MLU 1.01 to 1.49
 Child frequently initiates topics
LATE STAGE I (Semantic Relations) (19-32 months) MLU 1.50-1.99
Notice: look
Nomination/Agent: (naming, possession,
commenting); names for objects child acts on
(shoe, cup); names for objects that move (dog,
car), person names (child’s name, sibling’s names,
mommy, pet’s name)
Cessation: stop, no
Negation: not, don’t
Possession: my, mine
Question*: what, where (Early Stage I); what +
this, that; + noun or verb (Late Stage I)
Action (locative action): pull, run, go, up, off, put,
take, down, out, fit, sit, fall:
Attribution: hot, big, dirty, pretty:
NP (noun phrase): may include modifiers: my
coat, that coat, more milk; serial naming w/o and
VP (verb phrase): main verbs unmarked
Existence: a, the, that, this, see + noun:
Recurrence: more + noun:
Nonexistence: all gone, not, no + noun or
verb Late Stage I
Agent + Action: mommy pull:
Action + Object: hit ball:
Agent + Object: mommy book:
Action + Locative: put floor, pull out:
Entity + Locative: baby table, block in:
Possessor + Possession: Kate sock:
Attribute + Entity: big ball:
Subject + Verb + Object: (baby eat cookie) Late
Stage I
Date: 10/27/09, Rev. B
SSS-F1118
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