je suis né en
In French, "I was born in" is translated as je suis né en.
This phrase is used to state the place or time of one's birth.
What does it mean word for word?
The phrase je suis né literally translates to "I am born" because French uses the auxiliary verb être (to be) instead of "avoir" (to have) for this expression.
How does it change in a sentence?
The form of the phrase changes based on the gender of the speaker and the type of location being mentioned. If the speaker is male, use je suis né en. If the speaker is female, the past participle must take an extra e at the end, resulting in je suis née en. Additionally, when referring to a city rather than a year or a country, the preposition en changes to à, making the phrase je suis né à.
Did you know?
- The word né comes from the Proto-Indo-European root 'ǵenh₁-', which is also the ancestor of the English words 'kin' and 'gender'.
- When a woman writes je suis née, the extra 'e' is silent, meaning the spoken phrase is identical for both men and women.
- The preposition en is used for feminine countries, but au is used for masculine countries, such as je suis né au Canada.
Examples in context
- Je suis né en 1972.I was born in 1972.This sentence is useful for stating the year of your birth.Tatoeba #688909 by sysko, translation #689018 by bferrant
- Je suis né en 1979.I was born in 1979.Tatoeba #691112 by U2FS, translation #252438 by CK
- Je suis né en 1960.I was born in 1960.Tatoeba #940265 by U2FS, translation #252429 by CK
- 20 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Gabriel and Léa are chatting about their origins at a café.
- GabrielOù est-ce que tu es née ?Where were you born?
- LéaJe suis née en France.I was born in France.
- GabrielMoi, je suis né en Italie.Me, I was born in Italy.
- LéaC'est super !That's great!
Sources
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries en, je, né, suis, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
