cadet/ ainee

Question

I have heard cadet used to mean youngest of a group of siblings., as aine ( no accents on keyboard) is used to mean the eldest or first born. why can cadet not be used for youngest daughter . In your writing challenge you did not offer cadet as a possibility although for a previous sentence you used ainee for the oldest .

Accepted Answer

Bonjour Sue !There are three terms to rank siblings in French :)- Aîné(e) will be the eldest, first-born in all cases- Cadet(te) will indeed always be younger than the eldest, so could also mean the youngest out of 2 children. It can also, as you pointed out, be used to say the youngest of a whole family, in a general sense.BUT- Benjamin(e) is used for the youngest, the last born of 3 siblings specifically, and in the case of a 3-kid family, the ranking will go as follows:l'aîné(e), le cadet (la cadette) et le benjamin (la benjamine) !I hope that's helpful!À bientôt !

Answer

Bonjour Sue,
Alors, il y a la réponse de la Dictionnaire Collins-Robert:
adjective
(plus jeune) younger
⇒ ma sœur cadette my younger sister
(= le plus jeune) youngest
⇒ son fils cadet his youngest son
masculine noun, feminine noun
le cadet (= le plus jeune) the youngest child, the youngest
⇒ C'est le cadet de la famille. He's the youngest of the family.
(plus jeune)
il est mon cadet he's younger than me
il est mon cadet de deux ans he's 2 years younger than me
J'espère que cela vous aidera.
Bonne chance.