French Conversation · Level 58
75 words
French word
enfance
Pronunciation
IPA/ɑ̃fɑ̃s/
Meaning
- feminine nounchildhood
Example
Tu te souviens de ton enfance ?
Do you remember your childhood?
More examples
Il parle souvent de son enfance.
He often talks about his childhood.
Core concept
The early-life chapter that holds a person's first scenes, feelings, and experiences.
Common phrases
souvenir d'enfance
childhood memory
pendant l'enfance
during childhood
la petite enfance
early childhood
Similar words
jeunesse: The period of life when a person is young.
petite enfance: The earliest years of a child's life, beginning at birth.
Definition in French
Désigne la période de la vie où l'on est enfant, souvent évoquée pour des souvenirs.
Word origin
The French noun enfance comes through Old French from Latin infantia, formed from infans, meaning "not speaking," and developed to mean childhood.
Usage tips
- Enfance is feminine, so it takes l'enfance and cette enfance; son enfance uses son before the vowel sound, not because the noun is masculine.
Other meanings
- infancynoun
Opposites
- adolescenceadolescencenoun
- âge adulteadulthoodnoun
Related words
- enfantinchildishadjective
- enfantillagechildish behaviornoun