While previous research has shown that verbs pose a challenge to toddlers as they describe actions rather than objects, a new study has revealed new insight into how toddlers learn verbs.

The research carried out by the University of Liverpool suggests parents can help toddlers' language skills by showing them a variety of examples of different actions.

The study discovered that showing toddlers similar but, importantly, not identical actions can actually help them understand what a particular verb refers to.

Developmental psychologist, Dr Katherine Twomey, said that knowledge of how children start to learn language is important to human understanding of how they progress throughout preschool and school years.

The research was published in the British Journal of Developmental Psychology by The British Psychological Society.