We have all been there as parents. Your toddler runs up to you, eyes wide with excitement, and launches into a passionate, animated story about their day. You nod, you smile, and you throw in a generic “Wow, really?”—all while frantically trying to figure out what on earth they just said. It can be a funny moment, but for many parents, it also triggers a quiet worry: “Shouldn’t he be speaking clearly by now?”

It is easy to fall into the comparison trap, especially if your child has a peer who speaks in full, crisp paragraphs. However, speech clarity, or “intelligibility,” is a developmental skill that takes years to master. Just because you cannot understand every word doesn’t mean something is wrong.

According to clinical research, there is a predictable progression for how much of a child’s speech should be understood by a stranger. Between 19 and 24 months, it is actually normal to understand only 25% to 50% of what a child says. If you are understanding about half of their words at age two, they are right on track.

By the time they reach 2 to 3 years old, that intelligibility usually jumps to 50% to 75%. It is not until a child is between 4 and 5 years old that we expect them to be 75% to 90% intelligible to strangers. Complete clarity—that 90% to 100% range—is generally a milestone for children aged 5 and older.

It is also helpful to remember that different sounds develop at different rates. While a 3-year-old generally masters sounds like p, m, h, n, w, and b, other sounds take much longer. Tricky sounds like v, z, and th often do not fully develop until ages 6, 7, or even 8.

However, if you feel your child is falling significantly behind these percentages, or if they are becoming frustrated because they can’t make themselves understood, it might be time to check in with us. A professional evaluation can determine if the errors are typical for their age or if they would benefit from speech therapy.