By the end of the first year, most children can say:

By the end of the first year, most children can say:

• A. A few simple words
• B. Eight to ten words
• C. Crude sentences
• D. A large vocabulary

Answer: (A)

Language development in the first year moves from babbling to the emergence of meaningful sounds. By about 12 months, most children begin to say a small number of simple words with clear intent, such as names of familiar people or familiar objects. Even though they can understand many more words than they can say, their spoken vocabulary at this point is typically just a few words. That’s why this option fits best: a small, manageable set of actual words is the common end-of-first-year milestone. The other descriptions describe later milestones—eight to ten words suggests a bit later than the first year, crude sentences require combining words into phrases, and a large vocabulary appears well after the first year as language continues to expand.

Language development in the first year moves from babbling to the emergence of meaningful sounds. By about 12 months, most children begin to say a small number of simple words with clear intent, such as names of familiar people or familiar objects. Even though they can understand many more words than they can say, their spoken vocabulary at this point is typically just a few words.

That’s why this option fits best: a small, manageable set of actual words is the common end-of-first-year milestone. The other descriptions describe later milestones—eight to ten words suggests a bit later than the first year, crude sentences require combining words into phrases, and a large vocabulary appears well after the first year as language continues to expand.