Je suis né au Canada
The English phrase "I was born in canada" is translated into French as Je suis né au Canada.
This phrase is used to state the country where a person's birth occurred.
What does it mean word for word?
The part au Canada means "in Canada". This is a contraction of à le Canada, which occurs because Canada is a masculine country in French.
Is it said differently in some regions?
In Quebec French, the interjection là is often added to the end of a sentence as a discourse marker.
How does it change in a sentence?
French uses the auxiliary verb être (to be) to form this past tense, rather than avoir (to have). The gender of the speaker affects the spelling of the past participle: use né for males and add an extra e to form née if the speaker is female.
Did you know?
Examples in context
- Je suis né au Canada, mais j'habite en France.I was born in Canada, but I live in France.
- Je suis né au Canada, mais j'habite ici.I was born in Canada, but I live here.
- Est-ce que tu sais que je suis né au Canada ?Did you know that I was born in Canada?
Example conversation
Two acquaintances are talking about their origins at a cafe.
- NathanD'où viens-tu, Manon ?Where are you from, Manon?
- ManonJe suis française. Et toi, Nathan ?I am French. And you, Nathan?
- NathanJe suis né au Canada.I was born in Canada.
- ManonC'est super !That is great!
Sources
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries Canada, je, né, suis, CC BY-SA 4.0.
