Saying "mines" instead of "mine"

mbedroya · March 2013

So DD (2 years old) goes to a small in-home daycare. The provider is awesome and does an excellent job teaching her all sorts of things. DD has always spoken very well and can put together pretty lengthy sentences. Lately she has begun saying "mines" instead of "mine." Ex. "This grape is mines and this one is yours." Every time she does this my husband and I correct her until she says it right. Then a couple days later she will say it again. She is hearing it from the DCP. Is this something you would address with the DCP or just let it go? I don't want to offend her. My hope is that DD will realize the proper way to say it from us and it won't be a big deal. Thoughts?

MrsSR · March 2013

I wouldn't say anything to DCP. Also, I wouldn't correct your DD. Instead, I would model the proper way of saying it.

"Yes, that grape is yours and this one is mine."

DD used to do this baby talk thing (where she was using made up words) and whenever I would comment on it she would do it more. As soon as I decided to ignore it, she stopped.

brettsmama · March 2013

I agree with pp. I wouldn't say anything to DCP and I wouldn't keep correcting DD either, it's not fair to her too confusing.
Although I would be annoyed, I would let that battle go.

Courtimilk · March 2013

I agree with PP. It sounds like your daughter is learning grammar and would probably just as easily have said, ''This grape is mine, and this one is your.''. IMHO she just sounds a little confused on which words require an ''s'' on the end and which don't.

lovebug33 · March 2013

My fifth graders do that all the time and it drives me BATTY. It is mine, not mines.

mben1119 · March 2013

At 2 years old, I wouldn't say anything. Just model the correct word usage.

ASmallWonder · March 2013

Do you know for sure she's hearing it from the DCP or are you making the assumption because you know that no one at home says it? I'm not saying your DCP doesn't say the word incorrectly but it's actually a very common error for kids that age. Think about the other words that would be used in that context - hiS, herS, yourS. MineS is a very obvious word choice for them, given what they know of the language so far and kids outgrow it.

mbedroya · March 2013

elmoali:
Do you know for sure she's hearing it from the DCP or are you making the assumption because you know that no one at home says it? I'm not saying your DCP doesn't say the word incorrectly but it's actually a very common error for kids that age. Think about the other words that would be used in that context - hiS, herS, yourS. MineS is a very obvious word choice for them, given what they know of the language so far and kids outgrow it.

No, I'm 100% sure it's coming from the DCP. She says it all the time.

mbedroya · March 2013

Great points. Although it drives me bonkers, I will just keep modeling the proper way to say it. Thanks!

highlights · March 2013

Do not say anything to DCP. It may seem like she is doing it out of ignorance, but it very well may be something she can't control and is sensitive about it.
I have letters that I cannot say, especially in casual conversation. I have instructed my family to teach DS the correct way of speaking, but if someone called me out on teaching their child to speak correctly, I'd be humiliated and angry.

Nechie122 · March 2013

I wouldn't say anything to the DCP but I'd also think about whether it's time for preschool.

groovygrl · March 2013

My kids used to say mines all the time & were not around anyone who said that. Your LO is only 2, so I agree, if you like the provider, don't say anything & just model it at home. My kids use the wrong forms of the past tense all the time (they're 3 1/2) and it is just kids learning language in my opinion & I know for a fact we nor their DC teachers talk like that. (like, I falled, I tored the paper, he hitted me, etc). I just repeat back oh you fell? you tore the paper? he hit you?

blushingbride_08 · March 2013

My pet peeve is ax vs ask. I would continue correcting LO.

cchill01 · March 2013

I would definitely not say anything to your DCP - especially since you have no idea if it's actually DCP provider saying it. It could be another child, still learning to speak. Also, your DD is only 2, she has another 3 years to get her grammar and pronunciation straight.

pitterpatter129 · March 2013

I'm so passive aggressive! I'd correct her in front of the daycare worker as often as possible. I agree with pp to just "correct" her by using it correctly yourself/modeling. I wouldn't say anything to dcp though.

elizabethnseanny · March 2013

mbedroya:
Great points. Although it drives me bonkers, I will just keep modeling the proper way to say it. Thanks!

Agree, remember, there will always be influences on your child you'd rather her not be exposed to, so trying to control them besides choosing where she attends/who she is with, will just frustrate you. I personally really loved my oldest DS's baby talk, and have to confess I did not correct "strawbaby" or "hambeeger" *smiley*.

LoCarb · March 2013

Agree w/ PP. Don't say anything and don't correct instead model good speech. I'm going through this too w/ DD1 and her saying no more instead of anymore.

2chatter · March 2013

We went through this, and I was doubtful that we could do enough modelling of correct grammar when everyone at DD's DC said "ax" instead of "ask" and "ain't" and "them" instead of "those", the list goes on. DD went through a brief phase where she spoke absolutely atrocious english, and it quickly resolved - as stated by PP, we didn't correct her, we just responded to demonstrate the correct usage.

ppants · March 2013

I wouldn't correct her. It will come in time. My kids used to say "I can't like that" instead of "I don't like that"

Now they use proper big kid words.

waTracy · March 2013

My DD is 3 and has grammar mistakes when speaking all the time. It's part of their age even though my DD has very qualified teachers. She says things like "hurted" because she's picked up on adding the suffix -ed to words to make it past tense etc. I know kids in kindergarten and first grade who still mess up pronouns. I think it's good to correct as we correct our daughter, but at this age, kids are trying to make sense of language by just listening to how we talk. I wouldn't worry too much. I'm a reading intervention teacher at the middle school and know that a lot of what pre-literate kids do is try to make sense of language. Once they begin reading, they will be able to make even more sense of language.

I get that your childcare provider isn't saying it correctly, and to me if it's not on purpose to talk baby and more fun (some people just do it to mimic kids) then I personally would be concerned. We pulled our DD out of a facility for many reasons, but one was the glaring grammar mistakes on her daily sheets home to us. Our kids learn so much right now to prepare them for school and I want the best possible environment for her.

DaisyJanie · March 2013

I remember reading something that might explain this change - I don't remember the book, but the example was a child that used to say "The dog ran around" but switches to "the dog runned around". This was actually not a bad thing, because it meant that the child was attempting to conjugate the verb herself, instead of copying what others had said. I wonder if this could be what's happening with "mines" because she's thinking, well if yours is correct, maybe mines is correct. Like others said, I would just model the correct behavior.

IUIBaby · March 2013

I wouldn't say anything.

footnotegirl · March 2013

One thing to be aware of is that little kids grasp the rules of grammar and syntax way way before they grasp the exceptions. And this is a big exception. In almost every other case, the possessive has an 'S' on the end (yours, his, hers, its, the cars, the dogs, my sisters) except in the case of my and mine. So, if you think about it, when you are correcting her, you are telling her to break a rule that she's learned innately. She will, eventually, come around. More than correcting her, make sure to use that exception in conversation often, so she hears it from you.

dglvrk2 · March 2013

elmoali:
Do you know for sure she's hearing it from the DCP or are you making the assumption because you know that no one at home says it? I'm not saying your DCP doesn't say the word incorrectly but it's actually a very common error for kids that age. Think about the other words that would be used in that context - hiS, herS, yourS. MineS is a very obvious word choice for them, given what they know of the language so far and kids outgrow it.

Also agree. I am an elementary school teacher. For the last eight years I have taught in schools with high English Language Learner populations. Many of my students (second and third grade) will say words like mines because they confuse the last phoneme (sound) with the final sound in other possessive pronouns.

Also.....I said "mines" instead of "mine" for a while according to my parents. I was one or two when this happened. I learned it from a couple of other kids at daycare. One of the other "mines' tots is now a professor of psychology at notable university. The other is an attorney. I'm the family "grammar geek." That being said, I think your LO will be alright in the long run.

Keep correcting her. She'll get it eventually.

Want a personalized experience?

Saying "mines" instead of "mine"

Re: Saying &quot;mines&quot; instead of &quot;mine&quot;

Choose Another Board

Search Boards

Want a personalized experience?

Saying &quot;mines&quot; instead of &quot;mine&quot;

Re: Saying &amp;quot;mines&amp;quot; instead of &amp;quot;mine&amp;quot;

Choose Another Board

Search Boards

Saying "mines" instead of "mine"

Re: Saying "mines" instead of "mine"