nació
/naθjo/from spelling rules
The English phrase 'was born' is translated into Spanish as nació.
nació is used to describe the event of a person coming into the world. The phrase Ha nacido is used to express a recent birth or to refer to someone who is alive at the time of speaking. If you wish to add a poetic or sentimental touch, you can use the phrase Vino al mundo, which means 'came into the world'.
How does it change in a sentence?
To say 'I was born', use the first-person singular form nací. To say 'they were born', use the third-person plural form nacieron.
How do you pronounce it?
/naθjo/
What mistakes should you avoid?
Avoid using the passive construction fue nacido to say 'was born'. Spanish uses the intransitive verb nació instead.
Did you know?
- In Spanish, the word for 'birth' is nacimiento, which shares a root with nacer. This root is closely related to the Latin word nasci, which also gave English the word 'nascent'.
- While nació refers to a biological birth, Spanish speakers use the same verb to describe the start of an idea or a project, such as Así nació el proyecto, meaning 'That is how the project was born'.
- While English speakers say 'I was born in 1990', using the present perfect He nacido to mean 'I was born' would imply you have just arrived in the world seconds ago. This can lead to humorous misunderstandings in conversation.
Examples in context
- Él nació en Ohio.He was born in Ohio.This sentence is useful for stating a person's place of birth using nació.Tatoeba #940795 by Shishir, translation #289429 by CK
- Él nació en 1960.He was born in 1960.This sentence is useful for stating a person's birth year using nació.Tatoeba #1388928 by hayastan, translation #1388964 by CK
- Él nació en Suiza.He was born in Switzerland.Tatoeba #878453 by Rafp, translation #684746 by notrwanda
- El famoso cantante nació en España.The famous singer was born in Spain.
- Mi abuela vino al mundo en un pequeño pueblo.My grandmother was born in a small village.
- ¿Dónde naciste?Where were you born?
- 179 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Two friends are looking at a baby photo album.
- Javier¿Cuándo nació tu hijo?When was your son born?
- SofíaNació en un verano muy caluroso.He was born in a very hot summer.
- Javier¡Qué bien! ¿Nació en Madrid?That's great! Was he born in Madrid?
- SofíaNo, nació en Valencia.No, he was born in Valencia.
Sources
- IPA marked “from spelling rules” is derived from standard Spanish spelling, where Wiktionary gives none.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
