Word endings like -ing and plural -s
Most children start adding endings like plural "-s" (cats) and "-ing" (running) somewhere between about 1½ and 2½ years, often around their second birthday. Past-tense "-ed" (jumped) tends to come a few months later.
How sure are we?
Fairly sure. Two large studies agree on when children start using past tense, but both relied on parents' reports, and the ages for the other endings come only from families in the United States. How we know this
What it’s a sign of
Your child is starting to change words to show more than one thing, or something happening now or in the past.
In US parents' reports, plural "-s", possessive "-s" (Mummy's) and "-ing" come first, and "-ed" a few months later. A study in Argentina, India, South Africa and Turkey found half of children using past tense by about 28 months, the same as in the US.
Endings work very differently in different languages, and the ages here are mostly for children learning English. We haven't yet read the classic studies of the order children learn endings in.
A main source for the ages
Word endings and words like "goed", by age: our count from Wordbank v3.4
MyHappyBub (analysis of Wordbank open data) · 2026
- Children
- About 8,500 US toddler word lists
- Where
- The United States (children learning English)
- Ages
- 16 to 36 months
- How
- Our own count from parents' answers on the word lists in the open Wordbank collection
- What it found
- Half of children were using plural "-s" by 23 months and "-ing" by 24, and past-tense "-ed" by 28. Half had said at least one word like "goed" or "foots" by 26 months, and about 2 in 3 by 2½ years.
- Limits
- Based on parents' reports, for children learning English only. The list asks about 45 such words, so children may say others too. Each month is a different group of children.
A main source for the ages
Similarities and differences in child development from birth to age 3 years by sex and across four countries: a cross-sectional, observational study
Ilgi Ozturk Ertem, Vibha Krishnamurthy, Mphelekedzeni C. Mulaudzi, Yanina Sguassero, Hakan Balta, Ozlem Gulumser · 2018 · Lancet Global Health
- Children
- About 4,900 healthy children
- Where
- Argentina, India, South Africa and Turkey
- Ages
- Birth to 3½ years
- How
- Trained staff asked parents open questions about what their child could do, at health clinics
- What it found
- Found the age by which half of children reached more than 100 milestones. Most came at similar ages in all four countries, and for boys and girls. For example, half of children waved bye-bye by about 11 months and said a first word by about 9 months.
- Limits
- Only four countries and no rural areas, children from city clinics, and only healthy children (about half of those who came were left out for health reasons). It gives the age for half of children, not the full spread.
If you’re worried about your child, talk to your child and family health nurse or GP.
Last checked 2 November 2026