Life & Growing Up — A2 Essential Words

pregnant /ˈpreɡnənt/ adjective A2 Family

Meaning: Having a baby growing inside the body; expecting a baby.

Example: She is pregnant with twins.

Another example: His sister got pregnant last year.

Collocations: pregnant with · get pregnant · pregnant women

Synonyms: expecting (gentle word), with child (old)

Word family: pregnancy (n)

⚠ Common mistake: 'Expecting' is the polite everyday word in announcements ('They're expecting!'). The adjective is pregnant; the noun is pregnancy.

🗣 In spoken American English: The happiest news a family ever announces at dinner.

Register: Neutral — family essential.

born /bɔːrn/ adjective / verb form A2 Family

Meaning: Having come into life; the beginning of a person's life (used with 'be').

Example: He was born in Texas.

Another example: The baby was born at midnight.

Collocations: was born · born in · born on

Synonyms: delivered (hospital word), come into the world

Word family: birth (n) · newborn (n/adj)

⚠ Common mistake: Always with BE: 'I was born in 2000' (never 'I am born'). BIRTH is the noun for the event and your papers ('date of birth').

🗣 In spoken American English: 'Born in the USA' is Springsteen's most famous line.

Register: Neutral — life essential.

alive /əˈlaɪv/ adjective A2 Family

Meaning: Living; not dead. Also full of energy and activity.

Example: The plant is still alive.

Another example: The city feels alive at night.

Collocations: still alive · alive and well · feel alive

Synonyms: living, breathing, lively (energetic)

Antonyms: dead

Word family: live (adj — for broadcasts/performances) · life (n)

⚠ Common mistake: Alive comes AFTER nouns or with be ('the fish is alive'); 'live' comes BEFORE nouns for broadcasts ('live TV'). People are alive; shows are live.

🗣 In spoken American English: 'Stayin' Alive' taught a disco generation both grammar and CPR rhythm.

Register: Neutral — life essential.

childhood /ˈtʃaɪldhʊd/ noun A2 Family

Meaning: The time when a person is a child; the early years of life.

Example: She spent her childhood in Colorado.

Another example: Childhood memories last forever.

Collocations: in my childhood · childhood friends · childhood home

Synonyms: early years, youth (wider, includes teens)

Antonyms: adulthood

Word family: childhoods (n pl — rare) · child (n) · childish (adj)

⚠ Common mistake: Childhood ends where ADULTHOOD begins — its partner word. 'Childhood friend' means known since those years.

🗣 In spoken American English: Every memoir opens there; every photo album proves it.

Register: Neutral — life essential.

adult /əˈdʌlt/ noun / adjective A2 Family

Meaning: A fully grown person (18+ in US law for most things); grown-up.

Example: Tickets: two adults and one child.

Another example: Adult life has many bills.

Collocations: an adult ticket · adult life · young adult

Synonyms: grown-up, man/woman

Antonyms: child, kid, minor

Word family: adults (n pl) · adulthood (n)

⚠ Common mistake: Prices split the world into adults and children. 'Adulting' is the playful modern noun for doing grown-up tasks.

🗣 In spoken American English: The library section you graduate to with pride at fourteen.

Register: Neutral — life essential.

teenager /ˈtiːneɪdʒər/ noun A2 Family

Meaning: A person between 13 and 19 years old (the 'teen' years).

Example: Teenagers spend hours on their phones.

Another example: As a teenager, he loved skateboarding.

Collocations: a teenager · teenagers today · teenage years

Synonyms: teen, adolescent, youth

Antonyms: adult, child

Word family: teenagers (n pl) · teenage (adj) · teens (n pl)

⚠ Common mistake: The word exists because English numbers 13–19 end in -teen. 'Teen' is the short form; teenage is the adjective.

🗣 In spoken American English: Every generation of adults writes the same worried article about them.

Register: Neutral — life essential.

grow /ɡrəʊ/ verb A2 Family

Meaning: To become bigger, taller, or more mature over time; to plant and care for plants.

Example: Children grow quickly.

Another example: They grow tomatoes in the garden.

Collocations: grow up · grow quickly · grow tomatoes

Synonyms: get bigger, develop, raise (plants)

Antonyms: shrink

Word family: grew (past) · grown (participle) · growth (n)

⚠ Common mistake: 'Grow up' is the life journey (and what parents tell arguing adults). Companies and economies also 'grow' — the word covers gardens and GDP.

🗣 In spoken American English: Height marks on the kitchen wall measure it in pencil.

Register: Neutral — life essential.

life /laɪf/ noun A2 Family

Meaning: The state of being alive; the period between birth and death; the way a person lives.

Example: Life in a big city is fast.

Another example: She had a long, happy life.

Collocations: city life · a happy life · life and death

Synonyms: existence, living, lifetime

Antonyms: death

Word family: lives (n pl — irregular) · live (v) · alive (adj)

⚠ Common mistake: Plural is LIVES (f→v, like wife and knife). 'That's life' accepts fate; 'the love of my life' is romance's crown phrase.

🗣 In spoken American English: Board games and cereal boxes both claim to describe it.

Register: Neutral — the central word.

death /deθ/ noun A2 Family

Meaning: The end of life; the time when a living thing dies.

Example: The old dog's death made the children sad.

Another example: He studies the causes of death in history.

Collocations: death of · cause of death · life and death

Synonyms: passing (gentle), end, loss

Antonyms: birth, life

Word family: deaths (n pl) · die (v) · dead (adj)

⚠ Common mistake: Three-part family: die (verb), dead (adjective), death (noun) — keep them apart: 'He died; he is dead; his death was sad.'

🗣 In spoken American English: Libraries file whole sections under its history.

Register: Neutral — life essential.

relative /ˈrelətɪv/ noun A2 Family

Meaning: A person connected to you by family — by birth or marriage.

Example: All his relatives came to the wedding.

Another example: She has relatives in three states.

Collocations: close relatives · relatives visit · a distant relative

Synonyms: family member, kin, relation

Word family: relatives (n pl) · related (adj)

⚠ Common mistake: Relatives is the wide net: aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents. 'No relation' denies the connection when surnames match by chance.

🗣 In spoken American English: Holidays count them; family trees draw them.

Register: Neutral — family essential.