English Vocabuary | Life and Death Vocabulary

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Useful Vocabulary


		Birth
	pregnant pregnancy	A woman becomes pregnant. We say she's pregnant. She's having a baby. We call also call it a pregnancy.
	antenatal	She goes to an antenatal clinic for check ups. Antenatal means "before birth", it's also called prenatal.
	labour	Eventually she starts to have the baby. We call this going into labour.
	birth newborn	When the baby arrives we say the mother has given birth. The baby is called a newborn baby.
	baby	We also say the parents have had a baby.
	milk	Babies drink milk. They can be breast fed.
	bottle	They can be bottle fed.
	nappy	Babies have to have their nappy changed.
	certificate	All babies are registered at birth, and issued with a birth certificate.
	christening	Some babies are christened by their parents. The ceremony is called a christening.
	pram	Babies can't walk so they get pushed in prams.
	pushchair	When babies are older they go for walks in pushchairs.


		Growing Up - The stages of childhood
	baby infant girl boy	Between 1 to 12 months you are a baby, an infant, or a girl / boy.
	toddler	Between the ages of 1 to 3 years, when you start to walk, you are a toddler, or a girl / boy.
	preschooler child kid	Between the ages of 3 to 5 years you are a preschooler, a child, a kid, or a girl / boy.
	schoolchild schoolgirl schoolboy	Between the ages of 5 to 10 years you are a child, a schoolchild / schoolgirl / schoolboy, or a girl / boy.
	preteen	Between the ages of 11 to 12 years you are a preteen, a schoolchild / schoolgirl / schoolboy, a child, or a girl / boy.
	teenager	Between the ages of 13 to 19 years you are a teenager.
	man woman	From the age of 18 you are legally an adult, or a man / woman. This is the age at which you can get married without having to ask your parents (called parental consent).


		Growing Old
	graduate(v) graduate(n)	When you are an adult you might graduate from University. Then you become a post graduate.
	work job	When you are an adult you need to work and get a job.
	marriage	When you are an adult you might get married.
	family parent	When you're an adult you might have a family and become a parent.
	housewife househusband	When you're an adult you might decide to stay at home to look after your family. Then you become a housewife or a househusband.
	retire pensioner	When you are 65 you can retire. Then you become a pensioner.


		Death and dying
	die dead death	When you die you pass away and you are dead. You become known as the deceased.
	undertaker coffin funeral	Your body is taken to an undertakers and placed in a coffin. Then your family and friends hold a ceremony - a funeral.
	grave	You are buried in a grave.
	mausoleum	You may end up in a mausoleum
	wreath	People send a wreath.
	will	Hopefully your wrote a will before you died.

- Irregular Plurals for People - You can't always just add an (s)

Singular	Plural
child	children
man	men
person	people
woman	women

Naturally Speaking

Things we say / write:-

About the birth of a baby.	Congratulations! Congratulations on the birth of your baby girl / boy.
About a graduation.	Congratulations! Well done! All the best for the future. Congratulations on graduating. Congratulations on your graduation.
About a wedding.	Congratulations! All the best for the future. Best wishes on your marriage. Best wishes on your wedding day.
About retirement.	Congratulations! All the best for the future. Congratulations on your retirement. Best wishes for your retirement.
About a death.	I'm sorry for your loss. I'm so sorry to hear that. When you hear someone has died you offer your condolences to the family and friends of the person. Sometimes there is an obituary printed in the paper. Please accept my sincere condolences.

Dialogue

Here is a conversation between Mr Smith and his doctor

It's Saturday morning and Mr Smith is reading the newspaper.
Mrs Smith :	Anything interesting in the paper?
Mr Smith:	Not much. I was just reading the announcements.
Mrs Smith:	That's a bit morbid.
Mr Smith:	Not at all, it's births and marriages as well as deaths. But I did read one of the oribituaries. It seems that the old lady down the road passed away.
Mrs Smith:	Really? That's a shame. I know she went to hospital, but I hadn't heard any more. I shall have to phone up and offer my condolences.
Mr Smith:	Rather you than me. I never know what to say in those circumstances.