Vocabulary Related to Life Milestones

Learning vocabulary related to life milestones will help you talk naturally about your experiences, plans, achievements and memories. This vocabulary is particularly useful for everyday conversations and Cambridge exams such as B2 First and C1 Advanced, where you may be asked to discuss personal experiences, important decisions and future ambitions.

A milestone is an important event or stage in someone’s life, education, career or personal development. Starting school, graduating from university, finding your first job, getting married, buying a home and retiring are all examples of life milestones. Some milestones are carefully planned, while others happen unexpectedly and completely change the direction of our lives.

In this lesson, you will learn useful collocations, phrasal verbs and expressions connected with the different stages of life.

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What Are Life Milestones?

Life milestones are significant events that mark the beginning or end of a particular period in someone’s life.

Common life milestones include:

• starting school
• coming of age
• leaving home
• graduating from university
• landing your first job
• getting promoted
• moving abroad
• getting engaged
• getting married
• starting a family
• buying your first home
• changing careers
• retiring from work

Of course, not everyone follows the same path. A major milestone for one person may not be particularly important to someone else.

For example:

Moving abroad was one of the most important milestones in Elena’s life.

Completing his first marathon was a major personal achievement for David.

Collocations Related to Life Milestones

Collocations are combinations of words that are commonly used together. Learning complete expressions rather than individual words will make your English sound more natural.

reach adulthood	to become an adult legally or emotionally	In many countries, people reach adulthood at the age of 18.
come of age	to reach the age when you are legally considered an adult	The story follows a group of teenagers as they come of age.
leave school	to finish your school education	She left school at 18 and went to university.
graduate from university	to complete a university degree	Marcus graduated from university with honours.
earn a degree	to successfully complete a university course	She earned a degree in economics.
land your first job	to successfully get your first job	He landed his first job shortly after graduating.
start a career	to begin working in a particular profession	She started her career as a junior journalist.
get promoted	to be given a more senior position at work	He got promoted to regional manager last year.
change careers	to leave one profession and begin another	After ten years in banking, she decided to change careers.
leave home	to stop living with your parents	He left home when he was 21.
move house	to change the place where you live	We are moving house at the end of the month.
buy your first home	to purchase your own property for the first time	Buying their first home was a proud moment for the couple.
get engaged	to formally agree to marry someone	They got engaged during a holiday in Italy.
get married	to become someone’s husband, wife or spouse	They got married in a small country church.
start a family	to begin having children	They would like to start a family in the next few years.
raise a family	to care for children as they grow up	They moved to the countryside to raise their family.
reach retirement age	to reach the age when people normally stop working	She reached retirement age but decided to continue working.
retire from work	to permanently stop working	He retired from work after more than forty years.
celebrate an anniversary	to celebrate the date of an important past event	They celebrated their twentieth wedding anniversary in Rome.
mark an occasion	to do something special to recognise an important event	We marked the occasion with a family dinner.

Come of Age

The expression come of age can refer to becoming a legal adult. It can also describe the process of becoming emotionally mature.

• When Liam came of age, he received some money that his grandparents had left him.
• The novel tells the story of a young woman coming of age during the 1960s.

A book, film or story about a young person growing into adulthood is often called a coming-of-age story.

Phrasal Verbs for Talking About Life Changes

The following phrasal verbs are commonly used when discussing vocabulary related to life milestones.

Phrasal verb	Meaning	Example
grow up	to develop from a child into an adult	I grew up in a small seaside town.
move out	to leave the home where you have been living	Carla moved out of her parents’ house when she started university.
move in	to begin living in a new home	We moved into our new flat last weekend.
settle down	to begin living a more stable and permanent life	After years of travelling, he decided to settle down.
start out	to begin your life or career in a particular way	She started out as a receptionist and eventually became a director.
work your way up	to gradually reach a more senior position	He worked his way up from shop assistant to store manager.
branch out	to begin doing something different or new	After teaching for several years, she branched out into publishing.
take up	to begin a new hobby or activity	He took up photography after he retired.
look forward to	to feel excited about a future event	I’m looking forward to my graduation ceremony.
look back on	to think about a past experience	She looks back on her university years with great affection.
carry on	to continue doing something	Despite the difficulties, they carried on with their plans.
pay off	to produce a successful result after effort	All her hard work paid off when she passed the exam.
pass away	to die; a polite and indirect expression	His grandfather passed away at the age of 92.

Move In or Move Into?

We use move in when we do not mention the new place:

• We moved in last Saturday.

We use move into before a noun:

• We moved into our new house last Saturday.

We can also say that two people move in together when they begin sharing a home:

• Hannah and Leo moved in together after being in a relationship for two years.

Settle Down

To settle down usually means to begin living a quieter and more stable life, often by finding a permanent home, developing a career or starting a family.

• He enjoyed travelling in his twenties, but eventually he wanted to settle down.

It can also mean to become calm:

• It took the children several minutes to settle down after the party.

Expressions for Important Life Stages

These expressions can help you describe the importance or effect of a particular milestone.

Expression	Meaning	Example
the next chapter	a new period or stage of life	Graduation marked the beginning of the next chapter in her life.
a turning point	an event that causes an important change	Moving abroad was a turning point in his career.
a big step	an important and sometimes difficult action	Starting your own business is a big step.
a new beginning	the start of a different and often more positive period	The move represented a new beginning for the whole family.
a fresh start	an opportunity to begin again	She moved to another city because she wanted a fresh start.
a major life event	an important event that significantly affects someone’s life	Having a child is a major life event.
a once-in-a-lifetime experience	an extraordinary experience that is unlikely to happen again	Studying in Japan was a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
a life-changing decision	a decision that has an enormous effect on your future	Giving up his job to travel was a life-changing decision.
a rite of passage	an event that marks an important stage of development	Learning to drive is considered a rite of passage by many teenagers.
a proud moment	an occasion that makes someone feel proud	Watching her daughter graduate was a proud moment.
a dream come true	something you have wanted for a long time that finally happens	Opening her own restaurant was a dream come true.
a defining moment	an event that strongly influences someone’s identity or future	Winning the scholarship was a defining moment in his life.

A Turning Point

A turning point is an event that causes an important change in someone’s life, career or attitude.

• Losing his job turned out to be a turning point because it encouraged him to start his own company.

A turning point is not necessarily positive when it happens. However, it often leads to significant changes.

A Rite of Passage

A rite of passage is an event or experience that marks an important transition from one stage of life to another.

Depending on the person and culture, rites of passage may include:

• reaching adulthood
• leaving school
• passing a driving test
• leaving home
• getting married
• becoming a parent

For many young people, leaving home is an important rite of passage.

Verbs for Celebrating and Remembering Milestones

Different verbs can be used depending on the type of occasion.

Celebrate

We celebrate a happy or successful event.

• We celebrated her promotion with a meal at her favourite restaurant.
• They are celebrating their silver wedding anniversary this year.

Mark

We mark an occasion by doing something special to recognise it.

• The school planted a tree to mark its hundredth anniversary.

Commemorate

We commemorate an important person or historical event, particularly one connected with the past.

• A ceremony was held to commemorate the town’s founding.

Achieve

We achieve a goal, ambition or important result.

• Completing the course was a major personal achievement.

Embark on

The advanced expression embark on means to begin something important, new or challenging.

• She is about to embark on a new career in education.
• The couple embarked on a new chapter of their lives together.

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Vocabulary Related to Life Milestones: Useful Adjectives 

You can make your descriptions more precise by using the following adjectives:

• important
• significant
• major
• memorable
• emotional
• exciting
• challenging
• rewarding
• unexpected
• life-changing
• long-awaited
• bittersweet

Examples:

• It was a memorable occasion for the whole family.
• Leaving her home country was both exciting and challenging.
• His retirement was a bittersweet moment because he was looking forward to having more free time, but he knew he would miss his colleagues.

A bittersweet experience contains both happiness and sadness.

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Useful Grammar and Word Patterns

When learning vocabulary related to life milestones, pay attention to the prepositions and grammatical patterns used with each expression.

Graduate From

We normally say graduate from a school or university:

• She graduated from Oxford University.

We can also say graduate with a particular qualification or result:

• He graduated with a degree in engineering.
• She graduated with honours.

Marry and Get Married

The verb marry is used without a preposition:

• She married her childhood sweetheart.

We use get married to when mentioning the other person:

• She got married to her childhood sweetheart.

We do not normally say married with someone.

Retire From

We retire from a job, profession or organisation:

• He retired from teaching at the age of 65.

Anniversary Of

An anniversary is connected with an event:

• This year marks the fiftieth anniversary of the company’s foundation.

For marriage, we commonly use wedding anniversary:

• They celebrated their tenth wedding anniversary.

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Talking About Life Milestones in English Exams

Questions about personal experiences frequently appear in the B2 First and C1 Advanced Speaking papers.

You might be asked:

• What is an important milestone you have recently reached?
• Which life milestones are most important in your culture?
• At what age should young people leave home?
• Is graduating from university as important as it used to be?
• What events can completely change the direction of someone’s life?
• Do people put too much pressure on themselves to reach certain milestones?
• What achievement are you most proud of?
• What important goals would you like to achieve in the future?

Try to explain why the event was important rather than simply naming it.

B2-Level Answer

One of the most important milestones in my life was graduating from university. It was a proud moment because I had worked extremely hard for several years. It also marked the beginning of a new chapter because I was able to start my career.

C1-Level Answer

Moving abroad was undoubtedly a turning point in my life. Although leaving my family and familiar surroundings was initially quite daunting, it encouraged me to become more independent and open-minded. Looking back on the experience, I would say that it shaped both my career and my personality.

Download Life Milestones Vocabulary Practice Worksheet in PDF here

Final Thoughts on Vocabulary Related to Life Milestones

Learning vocabulary related to life milestones allows you to talk more confidently about the important stages, achievements and changes in your life.

Instead of repeatedly using general words such as important or special, try expressions such as a turning point, a defining moment, a rite of passage, a fresh start or the beginning of a new chapter.

These expressions will make your speaking and writing more vivid, natural and appropriate for B2 First and C1 Advanced.

What has been the most important milestone in your life so far? Try describing it using some of the new vocabulary from this lesson.

Related posts:

• B2 First Vocabulary 
• C1 Advanced Vocabulary 
• Collocations Related to Work
• Phrasal Verbs Related to Family 
• Phrasal Verbs Related to the Future
• Expressing Hopes & Wishes in English 
• B2 First Speaking 
• C1 Advanced Speaking 

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