from an early childhood

USAGE SUMMARY

The phrase "from an early childhood" is not correct in standard English; it should be "from early childhood." You can use it when discussing experiences, influences, or developments that began during the early years of a person's life.
Example: "She developed a love for music from early childhood, inspired by her parents' passion for singing."

⚠ May contain grammatical issues

News & Media

Academia

Formal & Business

Human-verified examples from authoritative sources

Exact Expressions

8 human-written examples

Alice was, from an early childhood, a voracious reader.

The New York Times

I really like this drawing because it is taken from an early childhood memory.

The Guardian

He vaulted from an early childhood in Bedford-Stuyvesant to being a hard-partying leader of a fraternity at the University of Hawaii.

The New York Times

This background inspired her future work in developing programs to bring research and innovation to new audiences in diverse settings – from an early childhood research center in New Haven, Connecticut to Cisco Systems in Silicon Valley.

Stanford University

Bensiger (2011) conducted a survey with 75 pre-service teachers from different pre-service programmes (18 students from an early childhood programme, 14 from special education, 15 from middle school, 24 from secondary education and four from other programmes) at the University of Cincinnati.

International Journal of Educational Technology in Higher Education

From an early childhood teacher: I was recently observed teaching math.

Huffington Post

Human-verified similar examples from authoritative sources

Similar Expressions

52 human-written examples

Illustrating his recollections with photographs, a child survivor from Hummene, Slovakia describes an early childhood full of love and warmth in spite of the death of his father when he was three years old.

Yale University

Jennifer Hart, an early childhood academic from the University of the Sunshine Coast, told ABC the kindergarten's approach was commendable.

The Guardian

Although I always knew, or at least suspected, that I wanted to be a father, my preparation to nurture, develop and care for two kids from a tough early childhood was lacking.

Huffington Post

EF develop over a lengthy course from early childhood until early adulthood (Diamond, 2013; Dias, Menezes, & Seabra, 2013).

International Journal of Child Care and Education Policy

But for Bassbär, who was five years old when the accident took place, Chernobyl had long seemed like a "bizarre phantom from my early childhood: a huge event that nobody knew very much about".

Vice

Expert writing Tips

Best practice

Prefer the more concise and grammatically sound phrase "from early childhood" instead of "from an early childhood".

Common error

The inclusion of the article "an" before "early childhood" is generally considered grammatically incorrect. It's better to omit "an" for clearer and more standard English.

Linguistic Context

The phrase functions as a prepositional phrase modifying a verb or noun, indicating the starting point of an action, state, or characteristic. As pointed out by Ludwig, the phrasing "from an early childhood" is grammatically incorrect.

Expression frequency: Uncommon

Frequent in

News & Media

44%

Academia

22%

Formal & Business

15%

Less common in

Science

12%

Encyclopedias

3%

Wiki

2%

Ludwig's WRAP-UP

In summary, while instances of the phrase "from an early childhood" appear across varied sources, including news, academic writing, and business communication, Ludwig AI and standard grammatical conventions consider it grammatically incorrect. The preferred form is "from early childhood". This phrase denotes a starting point in someone's early years and is used to describe the genesis of habits, skills, or characteristics. Contexts range from formal to neutral, with higher concentrations in news and academic settings. As such, it is recommended to omit the article "an" for grammatical accuracy.

More alternative expressions

Phrases that express similar concepts, ordered by semantic similarity:

since early childhood

Replaces the preposition "from" with "since", indicating a continuous period from childhood to the present.

from a young age

This phrase replaces "early childhood" with "young age".

since my early years

Replaces "childhood" with "early years", offering a slightly broader scope.

from babyhood

Substitutes "early childhood" with "babyhood", focusing on the earliest stage of life.

since youth

Uses "youth" to refer to an early period of life.

since a young age

Replaces the noun "childhood" with the adjective "young age".

from a tender age

Uses the adjective "tender" to describe the "age" replacing the term "early childhood" and emphasizing vulnerability.

since being a child

Uses a more descriptive phrase emphasizing the state of being a child.

from the start of their life

Offers a longer, more descriptive alternative.

from the time I was a child

Emphasizes the starting point in the past more explicitly.

FAQs

Why is "from early childhood" better than "from an early childhood"?

The phrase "from early childhood" is grammatically correct because "early childhood" acts as a noun phrase describing a period in life, which doesn't require the indefinite article "an". Ludwig AI confirms this.

What are some alternatives to "from early childhood"?

You can use alternatives like "since early childhood", "from a young age", or "since youth", depending on the specific nuance you want to convey.

Is "from an early childhood" ever correct?

While not standard English, "from an early childhood" is generally considered grammatically incorrect in most contexts. Use "from early childhood" instead.

How can I use "from early childhood" correctly in a sentence?

Use "from early childhood" to indicate when a habit, skill, or characteristic began. For example, "She loved to sing "from early childhood"".