geboren
/ɡəˈboːʁən/
The German word for born is geboren.
geboren is an adjective used to describe the state of having been given birth to.
Meaning: given birth to (adj)
What does it mean word for word?
The word geboren is the past participle of the German verb gebären, which means to give birth.
How does it change in a sentence?
To express the phrase 'to be born' in German, you use the verb sein (to be) rather than werden (to become).
How do you pronounce it?
/ɡəˈboːʁən/
Did you know?
- When discussing 'born' in a spiritual or metaphorical sense, such as being 'born again', German uses wiedergeboren, combining wieder for 'again' and geboren.
- In older German literature, you might see the term geboren used to describe a person's noble lineage or character, much like 'well-born' in English.
- The verb gebären is a cognate of the English word 'bear' in the sense of 'bearing a child'. Both languages use the same ancient root to describe the act of carrying and delivering offspring.
Examples in context
- Wo bist du geboren?Where were you born?This sentence is useful for asking someone where they were born using geboren.Tatoeba #762083 by Pfirsichbaeumchen, translation #687674 by lukaszpp
- Wo ist Tom geboren?Where was Tom born?This sentence is useful for asking where a third person was born using geboren.Tatoeba #2886926 by Zaghawa, translation #37234 by CK
- Bist du da geboren?Were you born there?This sentence is useful for asking if someone was born in a specific location using geboren.Tatoeba #8805671 by Pfirsichbaeumchen, translation #4495950 by CK
- Ich bin am 12. Juni geborenI was born on June 12th
- Ich bin in München geborenI was born in Munich
- Ich bin als Maria geborenI was born as Maria
- Ich wurde am 19. Dezember geborenI was born on December 19th
- 728 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Julia and Maximilian are talking about their family history.
- JuliaWann bist du geboren, Maximilian?When were you born, Maximilian?
- MaximilianIch bin im Juni geboren.I was born in June.
- JuliaIch bin im August geboren.I was born in August.
- MaximilianDas ist ja fast dasselbe!That is almost the same!
Sources
- Pronunciation: Wiktionary entry geboren, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
