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Original poster

Pronoun reversal at 2.5

82 replies

Babymad1234 · 29/07/2025 10:52

How common is pronoun reversal at 2.5 , specifically you and I . She has a lot of spontaneous conversations and answers to a lot of questions but she doesn’t get you and I correct no matter how I correct her . She has some set phrases like “ I don’t want “ I got “ I have etc .
the reason I ask is because this particular pronoun mix up with you and I is not that common in a normal language acquisition process

OP posts:
Upcyled · 29/07/2025 12:12

I remember little boy who was learning the alphabet and he would say s, t, me, v, double me, x...
It was so cute, he was around 3 and im sure he stopped when he worked it out.
Just enjoy your little one, some aren't stringing words at 2.5.

niceandsimple · 29/07/2025 11:57

I am no expert, but in my experience, at that age, unless you make a concerted effort not to, they are hearing "you" when directing something towards them, and I when talking about yourself. So they associate you and I opposite to what they actually mean. It is very normal at this age, and it's only a bit older that they can correctly identify which is which. I used to avoid it by only using names, but then had the problem that they used to refer to themselves by name and not I/me!! Now I do a mixture, and they pick it up, at a guess I'd say by 3/3.5 is normal.

IlovePhilMitchell · 29/07/2025 11:48

I don’t think you need to be so serious about correcting and analysing language at that age.

The main part of teaching them words and to talk is them learning from you talking to them or others and hearing conversations.

Just keep on chatting away to her about anything and everything using the correct way of talking.

BarnacleBeasley · 29/07/2025 11:43

My DS used to say 'you' when talking about himself sometimes, because that's what he'd have been hearing a lot. He grew out of it pretty quickly I think.

AngryBird6122 · 29/07/2025 11:39

@aniloD that's so cute!

aniloD · 29/07/2025 11:12

When my daughter was that age she referred to herself and her brother as 'you two'. So she would say 'Can youtwo have a biscuit' or 'Can youtwo go to the park'. We never corrected it,as we could see it made total sense to her as we used to say 'Come on you two, time for bed' or whatever. She grew out of it on her own. Perhaps 3 or 4, I can't remember, she's in her 40s now.
We have talked about it over the years and she will sometimes use it in fun now (Can youtwo have thatbottle of fizz in the fridge')
Grin

onevision · 29/07/2025 11:06

How is she if you just use nouns, ie people's actual names?

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