childhood

/ˈtʃaɪldhʊd/ (bre, ipa) · /ˈtʃaɪldhʊd/ (ame, ipa) · /ˈchī(-ə)ld-ˌhu̇d/ (ame, mw)

childhood — noun

  • childhoodsingular
  • childhoodsplural

1. The years of a person's life from birth to the early teenage period, before they

1.名詞B1
釋義

The years of a person's life from birth to the early teenage period, before they become an adult.

例句

Priya has happy memories of her childhood in a small village by the sea.

collocation: memories of childhood

During his childhood, Theo lived in three different countries because of his father's job.

preposition: during childhood

同義詞
  • youth

    wider in scope, often includes teenage and young adult years; less specific to early life

  • infancy

    only the very first years (birth to ~age 2); much narrower than childhood

  • adolescence

    the teenage years only; focuses on the transition between childhood and adulthood

反義詞
  • adulthood

    the stage of life after childhood, when a person is fully grown

文法句型

in/during/since + childhood

childhood + noun (childhood memories / childhood friends / childhood home)

a/an + adjective + childhood

用法筆記

When childhood is described with an adjective, it usually takes the article a or an (e.g., 'a happy childhood,' 'a difficult childhood'). In this pattern, childhood behaves like a countable noun. Without an adjective, it remains uncountable: 'Childhood is a time of learning.'

常見錯誤

❌I had happy childhood in the countryside.
✅I had a happy childhood in the countryside.
💡When childhood follows an adjective, an article is needed.
❌Childhoods are important for development.
✅Childhood is important for development.
💡Childhood is uncountable and does not normally appear in plural form.