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barbarino25
Senior Member
french
- Nov 11, 2011
- #1
Hi!
un "enfant unique" is an only child.
However, I have also found "single" child.
Is it correct?
Thanks
Omelette
Senior Member
London
UK English
- Nov 11, 2011
- #2
It is correct. For example, from The Guardian: ‘the number of families with a single child is growing at a faster rate than ever.’
But it’s more likely, I’d have thought, to be used in official reports or by social workers.
‘only child’ is more usual and what people would normally say.
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barbarino25
Senior Member
french
- Nov 11, 2011
- #3
Thanks for your help!
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sissi2179
Member
Saint Loup Cammas, near Toulouse (France)
French
- Mar 23, 2016
- #4
Two days ago my son came back from his English lesson telling me he had been taught "single child" for "fils unique" and I was pretty shocked to hear that as I usually use "only child". As I am French, I asked two colleagues of mine: the French one said that in her daughter's school book the translation "single child" is proposed whereas my British colleague and my native (Carribbean) student told me they always say "only child" and had never heard "single" in this particular case. And when you look it up in the Robert & Collins dictionary you only find "only child", not single. My British colleague told me that a single child sounds like a child could be married or single!
So dear native speakers, what is best?
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Santana2002
Senior Member
France
English, from Ireland
- Mar 23, 2016
- #5
Personaly, I would use "only child" when referring directly to the child: "He's an only child", "He's their only child."
Whereas I would use "single child" in the more abstract sense : "They are a single-child family"
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Uncle Bob
Senior Member
Hungary
British English
- Mar 23, 2016
- #6
Yes, but even then I think a "one-child family" would be more common than a "single-child family".
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Santana2002
Senior Member
France
English, from Ireland
- Mar 23, 2016
- #7
Not for me, I don't think I would ever use "one-child family", perhaps it's a regional thing?
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sissi2179
Member
Saint Loup Cammas, near Toulouse (France)
French
- Mar 23, 2016
- #8
Thank you so much for your help. I am going to stick to "an only child" then.
Wordsmyth
Senior Member
Location: Mostly SW France
Native language: English (BrE)
- Mar 31, 2016
- #9
I agree with Santana: "one-child family" isn't an expression that's familiar to me, though I'd have no problem understanding the meaning.
The use of "only child" versus "single child" depends on the context. "Only child" is usual when referring to a particular child (as Santana says), and generally when emphasising the differences in social factors when compared (explicitly or implicitly) with children who have siblings.
In a sentence such as that quoted by Omelette in #2, where the emphasis is on the number of children in the family, rather than on a particular child, I find "families with a single child" (or "families with only one child") quite normal.
Though even there the choice of phrase might depend on the context:
- "the number of families with a single child is growing at a faster rate" would work for me in an article about, say, demographics.
- "the number of families with an only child is growing at a faster rate" would work in an article about, for example, behavioural development.
@sissi2179 : But none of that directly addresses your question in post #4, sissi:
sissi2179 said:
telling me he had been taught "single child" for "fils unique"
Surely "fils unique" can refer only to a son, whereas "only child" or "single child", can be a son or daughter, n'est-ce pas? So it's not an accurate translation.
I'm not sure how to understand "fils unique". Does it mean "only son" (the only male child of the family, though there may be one or more daughters)? Or does it mean a son who is an only child (and therefore has no siblings at all)? Or could it (confusingly
) be used for either of those?
Ws
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