autobiography

Everyday

1. A book or story of a person's life written by that person. tree →
2. The kind of writing (genre) where people tell their own life story. tree →

In the lessons

In English lessons pupils read and write autobiographies, using «I», the past tense and events in time order. It tells the reader the facts come from the person's own memory and point of view. Compare it with a biography, written by someone else. Phrases: «write your autobiography», «in her autobiography».

Examples

• The footballer wrote an autobiography about growing up in Manchester. tree →
• In his autobiography, he describes his first day at school. tree →
• Our homework is to write a short autobiography. tree →
• An autobiography is written in the first person, using «I». tree →
• Grandad says his autobiography would fill ten books. tree →
• The library has a shelf of autobiographies by famous scientists. tree →
• Her autobiography tells how she learned to swim at forty. tree →

Note

Countable: an autobiography (with «an»), plural autobiographies (y → ies). auto = self, bio = life, graphy = writing. Trap: a biography is about someone else; a memoir is a story of part of your own life. Adjective: autobiographical.