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FRENCH VERB

naître

to be born

  • #97 most used
  • Irregular -re verb
  • Past participle: né
  • Present participle: naissant

Conjugation

Tap any form to hear it. The part that changes is in colour.

Present

Présent · now, habits and facts

  1. je I am born
  2. tu you are born
  3. il, elle, on he/she is born
  4. nous we are born
  5. vous you are born
  6. ils, elles they are born

Past

Passé composé · finished actions

  1. je I was born
  2. tu you were born
  3. il, elle, on he/she was born
  4. nous we were born
  5. vous you were born
  6. ils, elles they were born

Imperfect

Imparfait · “used to” and “was …ing”

  1. je I used to be born
  2. tu you used to be born
  3. il, elle, on he/she used to be born
  4. nous we used to be born
  5. vous you used to be born
  6. ils, elles they used to be born

Future

Futur simple · plans; in speech, “je vais parler” is just as common

  1. je I will be born
  2. tu you will be born
  3. il, elle, on he/she will be born
  4. nous we will be born
  5. vous you will be born
  6. ils, elles they will be born

Conditional

Conditionnel · “would”, polite requests

  1. je I would be born
  2. tu you would be born
  3. il, elle, on he/she would be born
  4. nous we would be born
  5. vous you would be born
  6. ils, elles they would be born

Present subjunctive

Subjonctif présent · wishes, doubts, “il faut que …”

  1. je (that) I be born
  2. tu (that) you be born
  3. il, elle, on (that) he/she be born
  4. nous (that) we be born
  5. vous (that) you be born
  6. ils, elles (that) they be born

Imperative

Impératif · requests and orders

  1. tu be born!
  2. nous be born! (let’s)
  3. vous be born! (plural, or formal)

How to use naître

One sentence for each tense, the way people say it.

  1. Present

    Beaucoup de bébés naissent au printemps, c'est vrai ?

    A lot of babies are born in spring, is that true?

  2. Past

    Je suis né à Bordeaux, mais j'ai grandi ici.

    I was born in Bordeaux, but I grew up here.

  3. Imperfect

    À l'époque, les enfants naissaient souvent à la maison.

    Back then, children were often born at home.

  4. Future

    Le bébé naîtra en juin, normalement.

    The baby will be born in June, normally.

  5. Conditional

    Si tout va bien, elle naîtrait fin mai.

    If all goes well, she'd be born at the end of May.

  6. Present subjunctive

    On attend que le bébé naisse pour choisir le prénom.

    We're waiting for the baby to be born to choose the name.

  7. Imperative

    Nais où tu veux, mais vis où tu es heureux.

    Be born where you like, but live where you're happy.

Good to know

  • "Je suis né à Lyon": the passé composé is how you say where you were born.

Where you hear naître

The lessons that teach a form of it, and how they say it.

French · Beginner Level 2

  • Beaucoup de bébés naissent en été. A lot of babies are born in summer.
  • Je suis née à Chicago. I was born in Chicago.
  • Le bébé de ma cousine va naître en mai. My cousin's baby is going to be born in May.
6
The Keys

Beginner Level 2 · je suis née · je suis né

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Verbs like this one

The same pattern, on other verbs: irregular -re verb.