to start a family
44
1.9
- phrasal verb
:
formar una familia
- Once we owned the house, we decided it was time to start a family.
- wish to start a family
We just want to start a family, and that's difficult.
- We just want to start a family, and that's difficult.
- And then at some point they met in Baghdad, started a family, immigrated to France.
- They should have the freedom to love who they want and start a family with who they want in their home country.
- Like that guy has to be so done with playing the field and so ready to start a family and settle down.
- But my Co founder at GLOW had real challenges starting a family and I know that we're working on it in part for him and women like his wife.
- I'd love to know at the time that you decided to start a family, do you feel like you had to compromise your career in any way?
- You know, if who you start a family with, they'll never be your mother.
Examples
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We've always wanted to start a family.
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Both BC and I are very keen to start a family now that we are married.
Blog text (31) -
But you know, when am I planning to start a family and have kids?
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Especially when one person really does want to start a family.
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We're going to start a family.
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At some point, she wanted to start a family.
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Maybe even start a family.
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You know, Annie wanted to start a family.
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Gus, we're trying to start a family.
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They have decided to start a family and are excited about welcoming their first child.
Synonyms
103
6.0
To become pregnant
27
6.5
To have babies or young
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'to begin having children' is directly and predictably derived from combining 'start' (to begin) with 'family' (a household of parents and children): the phrase follows a simple compositional pattern meaning to begin family life. This wording and logic are common cross-linguistically, so a B1 learner who knows the constituents would readily infer the MWE meaning.
Etymology
Start a family paints a simple picture: to start something new and build a home as a family, like two people setting up a household and planning for children. So, it is used to mean 'to begin having children'.