Most AAC apps treat every word as fixed. If "run" is on the board, that's what gets spoken. If you need "running" or "ran," you either add separate buttons for each form or spell it out letter by letter.
That's a lot of extra work for something that speaking people do automatically.
SabiKo handles this differently. Long-press any word and you'll see its available forms: past tense, present tense, plural, possessive, comparative, and more. Tap the one you need, and it drops into your message. No extra buttons cluttering your board, no spelling required.
How Word Forms Work
The feature is built into every word on your communication board. Here's the process:
- Tap a word to add it to the message bar as usual
- Long-press the same word to see its available forms
- Pick the form you need from the popup
- The selected form replaces the base word in your message
For example, long-pressing "go" might show: go, goes, going, went, gone. Long-pressing "cat" might show: cat, cats, cat's. The forms that appear depend on the word type. Verbs get tense options. Nouns get plurals and possessives. Adjectives get comparatives and superlatives.
This works on words in SabiKo's built-in vocabulary.
Why This Matters for Grammar Development
AAC users often communicate in short, telegraphic phrases. "Want cookie" instead of "I want a cookie." That's completely valid communication, and SabiKo's grammar correction feature can help fill in the gaps automatically.
But there's a difference between the app fixing grammar for you and a person learning to use grammar themselves.
Word forms give AAC users a way to practice grammar actively. When a child long-presses "walk" and selects "walked" to say "I walked to school," they're making a grammatical choice. Over time, that builds real understanding of how language works.
Research in AAC and language development consistently shows that exposure to grammatical forms matters. When AAC systems only offer base words, users miss opportunities to learn how tense, number, and agreement work. Word forms put those opportunities right on the board.
This is especially relevant for children who are already using core words consistently. Once a child can reliably use "go," "want," "play," and "eat," the next step is learning that those words can change form depending on context. Word forms make that next step accessible without adding complexity to the board layout.
Without Word Forms vs. With Word Forms
Here's what the difference looks like in practice:
| What the child wants to say | Without word forms | With word forms |
|---|---|---|
| "I played at the park" | "I play park" (telegraphic) | "I played park" (selects past tense) |
| "She wants crackers" | "she want cracker" | "she wants crackers" (selects third person + plural) |
| "The big dog is bigger" | "big dog big" (no way to compare) | "big dog bigger" (selects comparative) |
| "That's mom's cup" | "that mom cup" | "that mom's cup" (selects possessive) |
| "We were running" | "we run" | "we running" (selects present participle) |
The left column isn't wrong. Telegraphic communication is perfectly valid and communication partners can usually fill in the gaps. But the right column is closer to what the child actually means, and it's understood more easily by unfamiliar listeners like classmates, store clerks, or new teachers.
Practical Examples by Routine
Talking about the past
This is where word forms shine the most. So much conversation is about things that already happened. "How was school?" "What did you do this weekend?" "Tell grandma about the park."
Without word forms, your child is stuck in present tense. With them, they can long-press "play" and select "played," long-press "go" and select "went," or long-press "eat" and select "ate." The conversation becomes more natural for everyone.
Snack time and meals
Your child wants more crackers. Long-pressing "cracker" and selecting "crackers" produces "I want crackers" instead of "I want cracker." At the end of the meal, long-pressing "eat" and selecting "eating" lets them say "I'm done eating." These small shifts add up during daily routines where repetition reinforces the patterns.
Describing and comparing
"I want the bigger one." "That was the best day." "She is taller." Comparatives and superlatives are concepts that matter to kids. They notice size, speed, and quality. Long-pressing "big" shows "bigger" and "biggest," giving them the vocabulary to express what they already understand.
Possessives and ownership
Ownership is a big deal for children. "That's mine." "It's Sarah's turn." "I want mommy's phone." Long-pressing a noun or name reveals the possessive form, so your child can express ownership without needing a separate "belonging to" button.
Telling stories
When a child starts combining word forms with core vocabulary, they can tell simple stories: "We went to the park. I played on the swings. Daddy pushed me. It was fun." Each past tense selection is a deliberate grammatical choice that moves them toward independent narrative skills.
Which Words Have Forms?
SabiKo includes word forms for the most commonly used words in AAC communication:
| Word type | Available forms | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Verbs | Past tense, present participle, third person, past participle | walk → walked, walking, walks |
| Nouns | Plural, possessive | dog → dogs, dog's |
| Adjectives | Comparative, superlative | big → bigger, biggest |
| Pronouns | Different cases | I → me, my, mine |
The forms are built into the vocabulary, so they're ready to use as soon as you download the app. No setup required. They work on your existing boards without any changes to your layout.
Tips for Teaching Word Forms
Don't introduce it on day one. Word forms are a grammar tool. If your child is still learning to navigate the board and build simple two to three word phrases, focus on that first. Check the AAC timeline for a sense of when grammar expansion typically becomes relevant. Word forms become valuable once a child is comfortable with basic requesting and commenting.
Model it during routines. When you're modeling AAC at home, use word forms yourself. At dinner, long-press "eat" and select "eating" while you say "We are eating dinner." Your child sees the interaction and learns that words can change. You don't need to explain it. Just show it.
Start with past tense. Past tense is the most immediately useful form because so much conversation is about things that already happened. "How was school?" "What did you do today?" These questions naturally call for past tense responses. Focus on a few high-frequency verbs first: went, played, wanted, liked, ate.
Then add plurals. Plurals are the easiest noun form to understand because the concept is concrete. One cracker vs. many crackers. Your child can see and count the difference. Model during meals and play: "You have two dogs. Dogs."
Celebrate the attempt, not the accuracy. If your child long-presses a word and picks the wrong form, that's still a win. They understood that the word can change. Gently model the correct form without making it a correction. "You said 'goed.' Nice try. It's 'went.' Went to the park."
Pair with literacy work. If your child is working on reading and writing, word forms reinforce the same concepts. Seeing "walk" become "walked" or "walking" on screen mirrors what happens in books. This connection between AAC and literacy strengthens both skills.
Common Questions
Are word forms free or Pro only?
Word forms are included in the free tier. Every SabiKo user has access to them right away.
Does my child need to know grammar rules to use this?
No. Your child doesn't need to know what "past tense" or "plural" means. They just need to hear the difference between "walk" and "walked" and recognize that the second one sounds right when talking about yesterday. That awareness comes from modeling, not from grammar lessons.
What if my child picks the wrong form?
That's part of learning. If they select "runned" instead of "ran" (or pick "walks" when they meant "walked"), respond naturally. Repeat their sentence with the correct form, the same way you would with a speaking child who says "I goed to school." Don't interrupt or make them redo it.
Can I add word forms to custom words?
Word forms are built into SabiKo's existing vocabulary. Custom words you add yourself won't automatically have word forms, but grammar correction will still adjust them in the final sentence.
How do word forms work with grammar correction?
They complement each other. Word forms let your child make intentional grammar choices. Grammar correction handles everything else: adding articles ("a," "the"), fixing word order, and smoothing out anything that still sounds off. Together, they produce more natural sentences than either feature alone.
How Word Forms Fit into IEP Goals
If you're working with a speech-language pathologist, word forms give you a concrete, measurable way to track grammar development. Common IEP goal areas that word forms support:
- Expressive grammar: "Student will use past tense verbs in 4 out of 5 opportunities during structured activities."
- Morphological awareness: "Student will select the correct word form (plural, possessive, or verb tense) when given a model."
- Sentence length: Word forms naturally encourage longer, more complete utterances, which supports MLU (mean length of utterance) goals.
Because SabiKo's message history saves the exact forms used, your SLP can review real communication data to track progress over time.
How Word Forms Fit with Other SabiKo Features
Word forms work alongside several other features in the app:
- Grammar correction cleans up the full sentence after you've selected your words, handling articles, word order, and anything else that needs adjusting.
- Word prediction learns from your form selections over time. If you frequently use "wanted" instead of "want," prediction adapts to your patterns.
- Core words benefit the most from word forms, since high-frequency verbs like "go," "want," "get," and "make" are the ones where tense matters most.
- Message history saves the exact forms you used, so you can replay past messages with their full grammar intact.
- Vocabulary packs come pre-loaded with words that support word forms. The core verbs and nouns in each pack are the same ones that have the richest set of available forms.
Getting Started
- Open SabiKo and go to any communication board
- Long-press a common verb like "go," "want," or "play"
- Look at the forms that appear and tap one to try it
- Start modeling word forms during one daily routine today
Word forms are one of the simplest ways to help AAC users build more natural, grammatically complete sentences. The feature is free, requires no setup, and works on every word in the app.
Download SabiKo free and long-press any word to see its forms.