Collocations The ages of life

The ages of life

Childhood/​youth

be born and raised/​bred in Oxford; into a wealthy/​middle-class family

have a happy/​an unhappy/​a tough childhood

grow up in a musical family/​in an orphanage/​on a farm

be/​grow up an only child (= with no brothers or sisters)

reach/​hit/​enter/​go through adolescence/​puberty

be in your teens/​early twenties/​mid-twenties/​late twenties

undergo/​experience physical/​psychological changes

give in to/​succumb to/​resist peer pressure

assert your independence/​individuality

Adulthood

leave school/​university/​home

go out to work (at sixteen)

get/​find a job/​partner

be/​get engaged/​married

have/​get a wife/​husband/​mortgage/​steady job

settle down and have kids/​children/​a family

begin/​start/​launch/​build a career (in politics/​science/​the music industry)

prove (to be)/represent/​mark/​reach a turning point in your life/​career

reach/​be well into/​settle into middle age

have/​suffer/​go through a midlife crisis

take/​consider early retirement

approach/​announce/​enjoy your retirement

Old age

have/​see/​spend time with your grandchildren

take up/​pursue/​develop a hobby

get/​receive/​draw/​collect/​live on a pension

approach/​save for/​die from old age

live to a ripe old age

reach the grand old age of 102/23 (often ironic)

be/​become/​be getting/​be going senile (often ironic)

die (peacefully)/pass away in your sleep/​after a brief illness