---
title: When should my child be able to pronounce speech sounds?
description: While speech sounds develop across a wide range of ages, developmental norms provide guidelines regarding the typical age at which children pronounce each sound.
---

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# [When should my child be able to pronounce speech sounds?](https://www.carolinapeds.com/knowledgebase/when-should-my-child-be-able-to-pronounce-speech-sounds-1)

 Written by [Ashley Kippins](https://www.carolinapeds.com/knowledgebase/author/ashley-kippins) | Mar 3, 2021 3:33:21 PM

While speech sounds develop across a wide range of ages, developmental norms provide guidelines regarding the typical age at which children pronounce each sound. Comprehensive research (McLeod & Crowe, 2018) indicates that the vast majority of children (75-85%) develop speech sounds according to the chart below. Using this chart, you can determine which sounds your child is expected to produce. For example, a 3-year, 2-month old child (age 3;2) would be expected to pronounce the “b” sound, as in “bye” and it would not be atypical for this child to have difficulty pronouncing “r”, as in “red”. 

| **75-85% of children produce this sound by age: (years;months)** | **English Consonant Sounds** |
| --- | --- |
| **3;0** | m, n, h, p, w, d, b, f, k, g, “ng” (as in “ring”) |
| **4;0** | y, t, s, l, sh |
| **5;0** | ch, z, r, z, j, v |
| **6;0** | voiced “th” (as in “that”) |
| **7;0** | voiceless “th” (as in “think”) |

McLeod, S., & Crowe, K. (2018). Children's consonant acquisition in 27 languages: A cross-linguistic review. *American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology*, *27*(*4*), 1546-1571. [https://doi.org/10.1044/2018_AJSLP-17-0100](https://doi.org/10.1044/2018_AJSLP-17-0100)

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