Certified Pediatric Nurse (CPN)

What age typically corresponds with a child's vocabulary having around 50 words?

1. 12 months

2. 18 months

3. 2 years

4. 3 years

The correct answer is: 18 months

At 18 months, a child typically has a vocabulary of about 50 words, which aligns with the expected developmental milestones in language acquisition. During this stage, children are transitioning from the cooing and babbling stages of infancy to producing recognizable words. At around this age, many toddlers begin to express their needs, thoughts, and feelings more clearly through their limited vocabulary. This word burst represents a significant growth in language skills, as they also start to combine words into simple two-word phrases shortly thereafter. By contrast, at 12 months, while a child may say a few words like "mama" or "dada," their overall vocabulary is much smaller, often fewer than 10 words. By 2 years, an average child typically has a vocabulary of about 200 words and begins to form simple sentences. At 3 years, vocabulary expands even further, reaching around 1,000 words as children develop their ability to communicate more complex ideas. Therefore, 18 months is the key age for achieving that 50-word milestone in vocabulary development.