BACKGROUND: verb acquisition. AIM: to verify quantitative and qualitative verb diversity in the spontaneous speech of Brazilian Portuguese-speaking preschoolers and verb acquisition from 2 to 4 years of age. METHOD: participants were sixty preschoolers equally matched on gender and age, divided into three groups: GI (2-year-old children), GII (3-year-old children) and GIII (4-year-old children). Spontaneous speech samples obtained through playing interactions, in educational contexts, were collected, and verb productions were listed. RESULTS: children used 167 different verbs. The quantitative analysis indicated significant statistical differences between all groups (p< .001), with gradual increase of verb usage from 2 to 4 years of age. However, no statistical difference (p= .956) was observed between genders. CONCLUSION: preschoolers improved their use of verbs during the initial stages of language acquisition, irrespective of their gender.
Language Development; Child Language; Vocabulary; Preschool
