Purpose. The purpose of this study was to conduct a detailed cross-examination of TO-infinitive use and TO-particle omission errors in typically developing children between the ages of 3;0 and 4;11 (years; months).
Method. The current study utilized 1294 language transcripts from the CHILDES database. TO-infinitive development and TO-particle omissions were examined at the sentence structure level and at the matrix verb level.
Results. Overall, significant growth in TO-infinitive knowledge is occurring during the preschool period. TO-Infinitive use increases across the preschool years, particularly with the WH/OBJ structure. Children are also increasing their use of matrix verbs, specifically in the NULL/OBJ and NP/OBJ-2SUB structures. Overall, TO-particle omission errors significantly decrease across this time frame, but errors persist with the matrix verb going in the NULL/OBJ structure.
Discussion. These results provide developmental information on TO-infinitive development that can be used to benefit children with language impairments who demonstrate difficulty with this complex grammatical construction.
","abstract_html":"<p>Purpose. The purpose of this study was to conduct a detailed cross-examination of TO-infinitive use and TO-particle omission errors in typically developing children between the ages of 3;0 and 4;11 (years; months).</p> <p>Method. The current study utilized 1294 language transcripts from the CHILDES database. TO-infinitive development and TO-particle omissions were examined at the sentence structure level and at the matrix verb level.</p> <p>Results. Overall, significant growth in TO-infinitive knowledge is occurring during the preschool period. TO-Infinitive use increases across the preschool years, particularly with the WH/OBJ structure. Children are also increasing their use of matrix verbs, specifically in the NULL/OBJ and NP/OBJ-2SUB structures. Overall, TO-particle omission errors significantly decrease across this time frame, but errors persist with the matrix verb going in the NULL/OBJ structure.</p> <p>Discussion. These results provide developmental information on TO-infinitive development that can be used to benefit children with language impairments who demonstrate difficulty with this complex grammatical construction.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Kersting, Jessica"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Ph.D.","degree_level":"Campus Access Dissertation","degree_discipline":"Communication Sciences and Disorders","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Denise Finneran"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2012,"date_issued":"2012-01-01T08:00:00Z","date_published":"2012-01-01T08:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T04:38:23Z","subjects":["Communication","Social and Behavioral Sciences","grammar","Infinitives","Language development","Preschool"],"languages":[],"rights":["© 2012, Jessica Kersting"],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://scholarcommons.sc.edu/etd/2576","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Denise Finneran"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Kersting, Jessica"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["1970-01-01T08:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Communication Sciences and Disorders"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Campus Access Dissertation"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Ph.D."]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Communication","Social and Behavioral Sciences","grammar","Infinitives","Language development","Preschool"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["© 2012, Jessica Kersting"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://scholarcommons.sc.edu/etd/2576"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Purpose. The purpose of this study was to conduct a detailed cross-examination of TO-infinitive use and TO-particle omission errors in typically developing children between the ages of 3;0 and 4;11 (years; months).
Method. The current study utilized 1294 language transcripts from the CHILDES database. TO-infinitive development and TO-particle omissions were examined at the sentence structure level and at the matrix verb level.
Results. Overall, significant growth in TO-infinitive knowledge is occurring during the preschool period. TO-Infinitive use increases across the preschool years, particularly with the WH/OBJ structure. Children are also increasing their use of matrix verbs, specifically in the NULL/OBJ and NP/OBJ-2SUB structures. Overall, TO-particle omission errors significantly decrease across this time frame, but errors persist with the matrix verb going in the NULL/OBJ structure.
Discussion. These results provide developmental information on TO-infinitive development that can be used to benefit children with language impairments who demonstrate difficulty with this complex grammatical construction.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["A Detailed Examination of TO-infinitive Development in Typically Developing Preschool-age Children"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Denise Finneran"],"dc:creator":["Kersting, Jessica"],"dc:date.available":["1970-01-01T08:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["Purpose. The purpose of this study was to conduct a detailed cross-examination of TO-infinitive use and TO-particle omission errors in typically developing children between the ages of 3;0 and 4;11 (years; months).
Method. The current study utilized 1294 language transcripts from the CHILDES database. TO-infinitive development and TO-particle omissions were examined at the sentence structure level and at the matrix verb level.
Results. Overall, significant growth in TO-infinitive knowledge is occurring during the preschool period. TO-Infinitive use increases across the preschool years, particularly with the WH/OBJ structure. Children are also increasing their use of matrix verbs, specifically in the NULL/OBJ and NP/OBJ-2SUB structures. Overall, TO-particle omission errors significantly decrease across this time frame, but errors persist with the matrix verb going in the NULL/OBJ structure.
Discussion. These results provide developmental information on TO-infinitive development that can be used to benefit children with language impairments who demonstrate difficulty with this complex grammatical construction.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://scholarcommons.sc.edu/etd/2576"],"dc:rights":["© 2012, Jessica Kersting"],"dc:subject":["Communication","Social and Behavioral Sciences","grammar","Infinitives","Language development","Preschool"],"dc:title":["A Detailed Examination of TO-infinitive Development in Typically Developing Preschool-age Children"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Communication Sciences and Disorders"],"thesis:degree_level":["Campus Access Dissertation"],"thesis:degree_name":["Ph.D."]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T04:38:23Z"}