A normal child can speak 3 word-sentences at:

DSSSB October 2024

Child Health Nursing (Pediatrics)

Easy

Appeared in: DSSSB October 2024

Explanation

According to developmental milestones, a child's ability to form sentences often corresponds roughly to their age in years.
By age 3, a child typically moves from two-word phrases to constructing sentences of three or more words.
At this stage, their vocabulary has expanded significantly (up to 1000 words), allowing for more complex expressions like "I want milk" or "Daddy go car.".
This milestone is a key marker in language acquisition, indicating the development of syntactic understanding (grammar and word order).

Option B: At 1.5 years (18 months), a child is typically in the early stages of combining words and mostly uses single words or very simple two-word phrases like "all gone.".
Option C: At 2 years, children are masters of the two-word sentence (e.g., "Mommy sock," "go bye-bye"). While some may begin to string three words together, it is not the expected norm for this age.
Option D: By age 4, a child's language skills are much more advanced. They are expected to speak in sentences of four or more words and can narrate simple stories.

Clinical Relevance

Nursing practice connection: This is primarily an exam-oriented knowledge point with limited direct bedside application, so retain Language development milestones in children as background academic context rather than a clinical decision trigger.
Nurses use developmental milestone charts (like the Denver II) to screen for developmental delays during well-child visits. Identifying a language delay early is crucial for timely referral to speech therapy.
Understanding normal language development helps nurses provide appropriate anticipatory guidance to parents, reassuring them about normal variations and educating them on signs of potential problems.
What if? If a 3-year-old is only using single words and not combining them into phrases, this is a significant delay (a 'red flag'). The nurse's priority action would be to perform a more detailed developmental screening and refer the child for audiology and speech-language pathology evaluations.

How to Approach the Question

First, identify the core concept of the question, which is a specific developmental milestone (language).
Recall the general rule of thumb for early language: the number of words in a typical sentence often matches the child's age in years (e.g., 2 words at 2 years, 3 words at 3 years).
Evaluate the options based on this rule and your knowledge of developmental stages.
Option A (3 years) directly aligns with the expectation of 3-word sentences.
Eliminate the other options by placing them on the developmental timeline: 1.5 years is too early (mostly single words), 2 years is characterized by 2-word sentences, and 4 years is too late (more complex sentences).

Concept Tested & Keywords

Concept Tested: Language development milestones in children.
Stem keywords: normal child, speak, 3 word-sentences
Lead-in keywords: BEST, MOST RELEVANT CLUE
Clinical cues: Age/sex group narrows the expected diagnosis, intervention, or normal reference range.

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E6 Nelson Textbook of Pediatrics(2024) — Volume 1 p. 371-373

E6 Kaplan Sadock's Synopsis of Psychiatry-2022 (pp 1-3768 of 3768) p. 2798-2800