Advanced English Vocabulary – Children Flashcards
Word 1: Lenient (adjective)
Meaning: To allow people to break the rules without punishment, or avoid giving people strict rules.
Synonyms: Indulgent; Soft-hearted (both adjectives)
Antonyms: Strict; Disciplined; Severe (all adjectives)
Collocations: To be lenient with someone
Example Sentence: I think modern parents are often too lenient with their children.
Word 2: Obedient (adjective)
Meaning: Someone who usually follows the rules.
Synonyms: Dutiful; Deferential (both adjectives)
Antonyms: Disobedient; Rebellious; Unruly; Unmanageable (all adjectives)
Example Sentence: I was always very obedient as a child, whereas my sister was a lot more rebellious than me.
Word 3: To get away with something (phrasal verb)
Meaning: To avoid being punished for something wrong.
قصر در رفتن
Synonyms: To escape; To avoid; To dodge (both verbs, all need to add something e.g. ‘to escape punishment’)
Antonyms: To get caught red-handed (phrasal verb)
Collocations: To get away with it; Get away with murder (murder = normal bad children’s behaviour); To get away with anything
Example Sentence: My sister could get away with murder when we were growing up, but I was constantly getting caught red-handed.
Word 4: An only child (noun)
Meaning: A child that doesn’t have siblings (brothers or sisters)
Antonyms: Sibling (noun)
Collocations: Only-child syndrome
Example Sentence: Someone who grows up as an only child is more likely to be spoilt.
Word 5: To raise someone to be (phrasal verb)
Meaning: To raise children in a specific way, usually a positive meaning.
Synonyms: To bring someone up to be…; To encourage someone to be… (both phrasal verbs)
Example Sentence: My parents raised me to be always polite and respectful with strangers.
Word 6: To drift apart (phrasal verb)
Meaning: Lose contact with someone gradually, over a long period of time.
کمکم با هم غریبه شدن کمکم جدا شدن
Synonyms: To lose touch with…; (all verbs)
Antonyms: To keep in touch with…; To stay in touch with…;
Example Sentence: My friend Paul and I were great friends in high school, but we drifted apart after going to different universities.
Word 7: To look up to someone (phrasal verb)
Meaning: To admire someone, usually older. Mostly used by children or young adults.
Synonyms: To admire; To idolize; To respect (all verbs)
Antonyms: To mock; To disparage; To look down on someone; To turn one’s nose up at someone (all verbs)
Example Sentence: Children look up to their parents and often follow in their footsteps.
Word 8: To follow in someone’s footsteps (phrasal verb)
Meaning: To do the same thing as someone did before, usually related to jobs or studies.
Synonyms: To copy someone; To follow suit (both verbs)
Antonyms: To go it alone; To break free; To be original; To make one’s own path (all verbs)
Collocations: Don’t follow in my footsteps; I’m following in my mother/father’s footsteps
Example Sentence: My mother is an artist, and when I was young, I wanted** to follow in her footsteps.**
Word 8: To follow in someone’s footsteps (phrasal verb)
Meaning: To do the same thing as someone did before, usually related to jobs or studies.
Synonyms:** To copy someone**; To follow suit (both verbs)
Antonyms: To go it alone; To break free; To be original; **To make one’s own path **(all verbs)
Collocations: Don’t follow in my footsteps; I’m following in my mother/father’s footsteps
Example Sentence: My mother is an artist, and when I was young, I wanted to follow in her footsteps.
Word 9: To go through a ____ phase (phrasal verb)
Meaning: Be very interested in something for a limited period of time, usually when young.
Synonyms: To be obsessed with…; To be really taken with…; To go through a period (both verbs + add the area of interest)
Antonyms: To be unconcerned by… (verb)
Example Sentence: I remember that I went through a dinosaur phase when I was about seven years old.*
Word 10: Upbringing (noun)
Meaning: The way that a child is raised.
Word Family: To bring up (verb)
Synonyms: Raising; Childhood (both nouns)
Collocations: A happy upbringing; A difficult upbringing; A conventional upbringing; A strict upbringing; (Something is) the result of someone’s
upbringing
Example Sentence: Behavioural problems suffered by adults are often the result of a difficult upbringing.
Examples
- I always wanted to follow in my father’s footsteps, so I became a doctor.
- Growing up as an only child meant that I still find it difficult to share.
- I always looked up to my older sister, because she always got great grades in school.
Listen
Different people have quite different experiences of childhood. You might have looked up to an older sibling or neighbor, and want to folow in their footsteps. Perhaps you were an only child, or raised by your parents as an obedient child. Your parents might have been lenient, letting you get away with anything, or very strict. Everyone’s experience is different.
Is it important for a child to have strict rules when growing up?
I think so, yes. Kids whose parents let them get away with anything tend to be less disiplined and less successful as adults, whereas kids who had strict upbringings often go far.
Where you an obedient child?
Most of the time, yes! I must admit that I went through a rebellious phase when I was about 14, but it didn’t last long. But for that year, I was pretty unrully, and not at all obedient.
