In the case of negatives, Stage 1 seems to involve a simple strategy of putting No or Not at the beginning, as in these examples:

no mitten                   not a teddy bear                    no fall                      no sit there

In the second stage, the additional negative forms don’t and can’t appear, and with no and not, are increasingly used in front of the verb rather than at the beginning of the sentence, as in these examples:

He no bite you                I don’t want it

That not touch                You can’t dance

The third stage sees the incorporation of other auxiliary forms such as didn’t and won’t while the typical Stage 1 forms disappear. A very late acquisition is the negative form isn’t, with the result that some Stage 2 forms (with not instead of isn’t) continue to be used for quite a long time, as in the examples:

I didn’t caught it                He not taking it

She won’t let go                This not ice cream

The study of the developing use of negative forms has produced some delightful examples of children operating their own rules for negative sentences. One famous example (from McNeill, 1966) also shows the futility of overt adult “correction” of children’s speech.

CHILD: Nobody don’t like me.

MOTHER: No, say “nobody likes me.”

CHILD: Nobody don’t like me.

(Eight repetitions of this dialog)

MOTHER: No, now listen carefully; say “nobody likes me.”

CHILD: Oh! Nobody don’t likes me.