🎂 Age & Life Stages Vocabulary

Part 1: Age Collocations

Collocations are words that naturally go together. Learn to talk about age naturally!

Collocation	Example	Meaning
young child	"She has two young children."	Small kids
elderly person	"He's an elderly person who needs help."	Old person (polite)
middle-aged	"She's a middle-aged woman."	Around 40-60 years old
teenage years	"The teenage years can be difficult."	Ages 13-19
retirement age	"He's reached retirement age."	Age to stop working
ripe old age	"She lived to a ripe old age of 95."	Very old age

Collocation	Example
come of age	"He came of age last year."
act your age	"Stop being silly and act your age!"
show your age	"That hairstyle is showing your age."
reach adulthood	"When you reach adulthood, you'll understand."
enter old age	"As we enter old age, health becomes important."

1. She has three children. (young/small)

2. He's a -aged man. (middle/mid)

3. Act your ! (age/years)

4. She's an person. (elderly/old)

5. He reached age. (retirement/retiring)

Idioms are expressions with meanings different from the literal words. These age idioms are commonly used!

Over the hill - Too old (often joking)
"He thinks he's over the hill at 40!"
Young at heart - Feel young despite age
"My grandma is 80 but young at heart."
No spring chicken - Not young anymore
"She's no spring chicken, but she's fit!"
Long in the tooth - Getting old
"He's a bit long in the tooth for that job."
Golden years - Retirement years
"Enjoy your golden years!"
Age before beauty - Older people go first (joking)
"Age before beauty!" (letting someone older go first)
Act your age, not your shoe size - Behave maturely
"Stop being childish! Act your age, not your shoe size!"
You're only as old as you feel - Age is just a number
"I'm 60 but I feel 40! You're only as old as you feel."

1. He thinks he's over the . (hill/mountain)

2. She's young at . (heart/mind)

3. She's no spring . (chicken/bird)

4. Enjoy your golden ! (years/days)

5. He's long in the . (tooth/teeth)

Phrasal verbs are verbs combined with prepositions or adverbs that create new meanings!

Phrasal Verb	Meaning	Example
grow up	Become an adult	"I grew up in London."
bring up	Raise children	"She brought up three kids alone."
settle down	Start stable family life	"It's time to settle down and have kids."
pass away	Die (polite)	"My grandfather passed away last year."
look after	Care for someone	"I look after my elderly mother."
take after	Resemble parent/relative	"She takes after her mother."
come along	Arrive/be born	"When the baby comes along, life changes."
move on	Progress to next life stage	"After university, I moved on to work."

Grow up - Very common, use for childhood location or becoming mature

Pass away - Polite way to say "die" - always use in formal situations

Settle down - Often means getting married and having children

1. I up in Spain. (grew/brought)

2. She up three children. (brought/grew)

3. It's time to down. (settle/sit)

4. He away last year. (passed/went)

5. I after my grandmother. (look/take)

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🎉 Excellent! Now you can talk about age and life stages naturally!