French Word of the Day: Enfant unique

Why do I need to know enfant unique?

Because every parent thinks that their child is unique, but that's not what this French expression means. 

What does it mean?

Enfant unique - roughly pronounced ahn-fant yoo-neek - might appear to be a way of describing a certain special or distinctive child, but its meaning in French is much more basic.

Unique in French can be defined as ‘sole’ or even ‘only’. As such, an enfant unique is simply an ‘only child’. Meanwhile 'fils unique' is only son and 'fille unique' is only daughter.

You will see this terminology used in plenty of circumstances - from casual conversations about family to reports about demographics.

If you were wondering how to describe a spoiled child, you would say enfant gâté. 

There is also the phrase enfant roi, which refers to the child who orders their parents around and gets anything he or she asks for.

Use it like this

En grandissant, j'ai beaucoup joué avec mes cousins, je ne me sentais donc pas comme un enfant unique. - I played with my cousins a lot growing up, so I did not feel like an only child.

J'ai appris à utiliser mon imagination très tôt, car je suis enfant unique. - I learned how to use my imagination at a young age because I am an only child.