This study investigated (1) the order of acquisition of related temporal and spatial terms, (2) the application of temporal and spatial terms and (3) the relationship between the application of temporal and spatial terms and performance on cognitive measures of temporal and spatial ordering. Children 3 to 5 years of age were tested on four language tasks (two spatial and two temporal) and two cognition tasks. Spatial terms tested were: before, after, ahead of, behind, beside, together with, above and below. Temporal test terms were: before, after, together with, and at the same time as. The cognition tasks consisted of one test of seriation and one test of temporal ordering. Among the results, the comprehension of most terms improved with age. Before and after were found to be of about equal difficulty and the terms expressing simultaneity were acquired before terms expressing succession. The combination of after/before and before/after appeared to be the most difficult. It is concluded that both simultaneity and succession appear to be salient concepts for 3-year-old children. (Author/RH)