We all change over time. In this article, we bring to you words that are useful to talk about various stages of life. From the time we are born, to our deaths, you can see how different words are used in French.
1. âgé
Meaning: polite word for old
English: elderly
Example: Elle aime aider les personnes âgées. (She likes helping the elderly.)
2. célibataire
Meaning: not married, or not having a romantic relationship with someone
English: single
Example: Il est célibataire depuis un certain temps maintenant. (He has been single for quite some time now.)
3. l’enfance
Meaning: the time when someone is a child
English: childhood
Example: Les jours de l’enfance sont les meilleurs jours de notre vie. (Childhood days are the best days of our lives.)
4. la jeunesse
Meaning: the period of your life when you are young, or the state of being young
English: youth
Example: Mon grand-père était basketteur dans sa jeunesse. (My grandpa was a basketball player in his youth.)
5. la puberté
Meaning :the stage in people’s lives when they develop from a child into an adult because of changes in their body that make them able to have children
English: puberty
Example: Il était très peu sûr de lui vers sa puberté. (He was very insecure around his puberty years.)
6. la retraite
Meaning: the act of leaving your job and stopping working, usually because you are old
English: retirement
Example: Mon père a pris sa retraite l’année dernière. (My father has taken his retirement last year.)
7. le baptême
Meaning: a Christian ceremony in which water is poured over someone’s head or the person is briefly covered completely by water, and is named as a Christian
English: baptism
Example: Nous espérons assister au baptême de notre neveu. (We hope to attend our nephew’s baptism.)
8. fiancé
Meaning: the man who someone is engaged to be married to:
English: fiance
Example: J’ai hâte de rencontrer le fiancé de mon meilleur ami. (I can’t wait to meet my best friend’s fiance. )
9. divorcé
Meaning : married in the past but not now married
English: divorced
Example: Elle a divorcé 30 ans après le mariage.. (She divorced him 30 years after marriage.)
10. enceinte
Meaning: having a baby or babies developing inside the womb
English: pregnant
Example: Elle avait une lueur naturelle sur son visage quand elle était enceinte. (She had a natural glow on her face when she was pregnant.)
11. la mort
Meaning : the end of life
English: death
Example: La mort de son chien l’a beaucoup perturbée. (Her dog’s death disturbed her a lot.)
12. un centenaire
Meaning: 100 years after an important event
English: a centenary
Example: C’est le centenaire de sa naissance l’année prochaine. (It’s the centenary of her birth next year.)
13. le mariage
Meaning: a legally accepted relationship between two people in which they live together, or the official ceremony that results in this
English: marriage
Example: Leur mariage était la conversation de la ville. (Their marriage was the talk of the town.)
14. la naissance
Meaning: the time when a baby or young animal comes out of its mother’s body
English: birth
Example: Il pesait 7 livres à la naissance (He weighed 7 pounds at birth.)
15. veuf / veuve
Meaning: a woman/man whose husband or wife has died and who has not married again
English: widower/widow
Example: Elle est devenue veuve très jeune. (She became a widow at quite a young age.)
We hope you enjoyed learning stages of life in French. For more such French vocabulary, keep reading our blog. You can easily learn French online with us. Stay tuned for more interesting blogs.
