Stages of life in French

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.