Stopping in Speech: Why Kids Say “Pun” for “Fun” and “Tee” for “See”

✓ Reviewed against ASHA Selected Phonological Patterns, ASHA Practice Portal, Crowe & McLeod (2020)Evidence level ALast reviewed October 14, 2026Published October 14, 2026

Stopping is when a long, flowing sound (like F, S, SH, or TH) is replaced by a short stop sound (P, T, B, D): “pun” for “fun,” “tee” for “see,” “dump” for “jump.” It is normal in young children and fades sound by sound — usually by about 3 for F and S, 4 for Z and V, and 5 for SH, CH, J, and voiced TH.

What stopping is

Stopping is a substitution pattern in which a fricative or an affricate is replaced by a stop. Fricatives — F, V, S, Z, SH, TH — are made by squeezing air through a narrow gap, so you can hold them (“ffff,” “ssss”). Affricates — CH and J — are a stop and a fricative combined. Stops — P, B, T, D, K, G — block the air completely, then release it in a pop. A child who stops swaps the long sound for a short one made in roughly the same spot.¹

Stopping examples (ASHA, Selected Phonological Patterns).
Target	Becomes	Example
F	P	“pun” for “fun”
S	T	“tee” for “see”
Z	D	“doo” for “zoo”
V	B	“bine” for “vine”
SH	T	“top” for “shop”
CH	T	“top” for “chop”
J	D	“dump” for “jump”
Voiced TH	D	“dat” for “that”

Stopping examples (ASHA, Selected Phonological Patterns).¹

When stopping usually stops — sound by sound

Unlike most processes, stopping does not have one age. ASHA gives a separate likely age of elimination for each group of sounds, which mirrors the order in which those sounds are acquired.¹

Stopping: likely age of elimination by sound (ASHA) alongside the age 90% of US children produce the sound (Crowe & McLeod, 2020).
Sounds	Stopping usually gone by	Sound acquired (90% criterion)
F, S	about 3	F: 3;0–3;11 · S: 4;0–4;11
Z, V	about 4	4;0–4;11
SH, CH, J, voiced TH	about 5	SH, CH, J: 4;0–4;11 · voiced TH: 5;0–5;11

Stopping: likely age of elimination by sound (ASHA) alongside the age 90% of US children produce the sound (Crowe & McLeod, 2020).^1,3

The reason stops come first is visible in the norms. In Crowe & McLeod’s review, all plosives (stops) were acquired on average by 3;11, while fricatives as a class were not all acquired until 6;11 — the longest of any sound class.³

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Note the gap

Stopping of S is expected to fade by about 3, even though a fully accurate S is not expected until the 4-year band. A 3½-year-old who says “thun” (a lisp) for “sun” is past the stopping stage; one who says “tun” is not.

Typical stopping vs. a reason to check

ASHA’s rule is that processes which persist past their usual age, or that are atypical, are what lead to a phonological disorder diagnosis. With stopping, the age depends on the sound, so check each sound against its own row.¹

Stopping of F or S that is still consistent well past age 3½–4.
Stopping of almost every fricative, so the child has very few “long” sounds at all.
Stopping together with other patterns, making speech hard to understand.

ASHA’s milestones say that by age 4 children speak so that people understand most of what they say, while noting that later sounds such as s, sh, ch, j, v, z, and th may still be developing.⁵

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TH and dialect

Saying D or T for TH is developmental stopping in some children — and simply standard pronunciation in several English dialects. ASHA’s position is that no dialectal variety of English is a disorder.

ASHA’s phonological-patterns guidance makes the same point directly: dialect rules are not error patterns, and SLPs do not label them as such.^6,1

How SLPs treat stopping

Because stopping is a pattern across a class of sounds, SLPs usually treat it with contrast approaches. Minimal pairs (“sea” vs. “tea”) show the child that the long sound changes the word. A 2022 tutorial recommends conventional minimal pairs mainly for children with few errors, and maximal or multiple oppositions for children with errors across many sounds or one sound standing in for many.^2,4

SLPs may also pick which fricative to start with strategically. ASHA describes a complexity approach in which harder targets, such as fricatives, are sometimes chosen first to encourage wider, generalized learning across the sound system.²

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How practice works in SpeechStep

For F, S, Z, V, SH, CH, J, and TH, practice uses listen-and-compare: your child records the word, plays it next to a clear model, and you judge the try together — with an optional human review of tricky recordings. (Automatic AI verdicts are currently offered for the R sound only.)

Free Sound Practice

Pick the sound your child stops — F, S, Z, V, SH, CH, J, or TH — and practice it with listen-and-compare.

Try it free →

Home practice: long sounds vs. short sounds

1Teach the idea. Long sounds you can hold — “ffff,” “ssss,” “shhh.” Short sounds pop — “p,” “t,” “d.” Play a game of sorting noises into “long” and “short.”
2Stretch it. Have your child hold the fricative before the vowel: “fffff-un,” “ssssss-ee.” Then shorten it.
3Contrast pairs. Use pictures for both words and let the meaning do the teaching.
4Climb the ladder. Words, then phrases, then sentences — the carryover stage ASHA calls generalization.

F vs. P: fan / pan · fin / pin · fork / pork · fill / pill
S vs. T: sea / tea · sip / tip · sail / tail · sank / tank
Z vs. D: zoo / do · zip / dip · zing / ding
V vs. B: vote / boat · van / ban · vest / best
SH vs. T: shop / top · shoe / two · shake / take
CH vs. T: chop / top · chip / tip · chew / two
J vs. D: jump / dump · jug / dug · jeep / deep

ASHA describes this progression — syllables, words, phrases and sentences, then conversation — as generalization, the carryover stage of treatment.²

When to get help

ASHA’s early-identification guidance names being hard to understand, even to people who know the child well, as a sign of a speech sound disorder. If stopping is still frequent past the age for that sound, or your child has few “long” sounds at all, an evaluation is worthwhile. Find a certified speech-language pathologist through ASHA’s ProFind directory.^7,9,8,10

Frequently asked questions

What is stopping in speech?＋

Stopping is a phonological process in which a fricative (a sound with continuous airflow, such as F, S, Z, V, SH, or TH) or an affricate (CH, J) is replaced by a stop — a sound where the air is blocked and released, such as P, B, T, or D. ASHA’s examples include “pun” for “fun,” “tee” for “see,” “doo” for “zoo,” and “dump” for “jump.”

At what age should stopping stop?＋

It depends on the sound being stopped. ASHA lists likely ages of elimination of about 3 for F and S, about 4 for Z and V, and about 5 for SH, CH, J, and voiced TH (as in “that”). So a 4-year-old who says “dump” for “jump” may be on track, while one who still says “pun” for “fun” is behind the usual timetable.

Why do children use stopping?＋

Stops are among the earliest sounds children master. In Crowe & McLeod’s review of 18,907 US children, all plosives (stops) were acquired on average by 3;11, while fricatives as a class were not all acquired until 6;11. A child who cannot yet sustain the airflow for a fricative often substitutes the stop made in roughly the same place.

Is saying “d” for “th” stopping?＋

Developmentally, yes — ASHA lists “dat” for “that” as stopping, typically gone by about 5. But in several English dialects TH is routinely said as T or D, and ASHA is clear that dialect patterns are not error patterns. Judge it against how the adults around your child speak.

How is stopping treated?＋

SLPs typically use contrast approaches — minimal pairs such as “sea” vs. “tea,” or maximal and multiple oppositions for children with many errors — and teach the difference between “long” sounds you can hold and “short” sounds that pop. The specific approach depends on how many sounds are affected.