Three experiments were conducted to conceptualize how structural differences between English and Japanese affect the way in which young children acquire the verification system. Linguistic characteristics that may distinguish between English and Japanese verifications are described along with the possible responses to four types of statement: true affirmative, false affirmative, true negative, and false negative. The experiments involved English speaking and Japanese speaking children between the ages of 3 and 7. Three models for the verification of English and Japanese statements were tested. The models specify language universal and language specific aspects of verification system acquisition. The universal aspect across the three models is the way in which affirmative statements are verified. The language specific aspects center on how different models incorporate negation in each of the two languages. The models appear to account for most verification processes in the two languages under different conditions. (RW)