Common mistakes
Born or borne: life events, carrying, and verb forms
Sign in to saveA child is born in a place and year. A bridge is borne by its supports. The words come from the verb bear, but they point to different meanings.
Choose born for birth and borne for the past participle of bear when something is carried, supported, produced, or endured.
Read and practice
Read the examples and try the written questions in this guide. Listening recordings are not available for this lesson yet.
Try the written questions
born and borne /bɔːn/ and /bɔːn/
The short answer
Use born for birth. Use borne for the other meanings of bear, including carried, supported, produced, and endured.
Mina was born in Bristol, but she grew up in Leeds.
Why it works: Born identifies the event of entering life and is the normal form after was or were.
4 more examples
-
The extra delivery cost was borne by the supplier.
Borne means that the supplier accepted or paid the cost.
Not this:Their first child
was born during a snowy February. What changes: Born is the form for the child's arrival into life. -
Her calm voice was borne across the hall by the microphone.
Borne describes the voice being carried from one place to another.
Not this:He
was born to parentswho ran a small bakery. What changes: Born identifies the relationship at the time of birth. -
The evidence has borne out the team's original estimate.
In the phrase bear out, borne means that the evidence has supported or confirmed something.
Not this:The foal
was born healthyafter a long night. What changes: Born is used because the foal came into life. -
The hikers had borne the cold wind for hours.
Borne means endured in this sentence.
Not this:A child
born abroadmay later live in several countries. What changes: Born works as an adjective-like form describing the child's place of birth.
Read the full guide
Ask what the sentence is describing. If a person or animal came into life, choose born. If a burden, cost, sound, result, or difficult experience is involved, choose borne.
Use born for coming into life
Born is the standard word for the time, place, and family connected with a person's or animal's birth. It commonly follows be: was born, were born, or has been born.
My grandfather was born near the coast in 1948.
The sentence is about entering life, so born is needed. It does not describe carrying or supporting anything.
Use borne for carrying and supporting
Borne is the form to use when bear means carry, hold up, or support. A physical object may be borne by a frame, while a cost or responsibility may be borne by a person or organisation.
Most of the repair expense was borne by the landlord.
The expense did not come into life. The landlord accepted it, so borne is the right spelling.
Recognise borne in formal phrases
Borne is common in formal and literary phrases. Evidence may bear out a claim, a sound may be borne across a room, and a person may bear a burden. These uses still belong to the wider idea of carrying, supporting, or producing a result.
The report's findings were borne out by the later survey.
Here borne out means confirmed. The report is not discussing anyone's birth.
Which form belongs in a sentence about fees paid by a university: born or borne?
Use borne. A university can bear a cost, so the fees are borne by the university.
Check the grammar around the word
Both forms often appear after be, which can make the choice harder. Look beyond the grammar to the noun and idea around it. Born often has a place, time, parent, or age nearby. Borne often has a carrier, a burden, a cost, a message, or evidence nearby.
The notice was borne by the wind into the garden.
Wind carries the notice, so borne fits. A birthplace would point to born instead.
Choose from meaning, not sound
Because born and borne sound alike, reading the sentence aloud will not settle the spelling. Ask one question: is the sentence about birth? If yes, choose born. If no, see whether bear means carry, support, endure, or confirm; those meanings take borne.
She was born in one town, and her moving costs were borne by her employer.
The first word describes her birth. The second describes who paid the costs.
Can you use borne for the city where a person entered life?
No. Say born in a city. Use borne only for the non-birth meanings of bear.
Before you go
Remember this
Use born for life events: born in, born on, born to, and natural-born. Use borne for the other meanings of bear: a cost borne by a company, a message borne on the wind, evidence borne out by facts, or hardship borne patiently.
Practice with the written examples
You can practice with the written questions in the Learn tab. Each answer includes an explanation.
Try the written questionsListening test not available yet
This lesson does not have the recordings needed for a listening test. Use the written questions in the guide to check your understanding.
Try the written questionsQuestions about "Born or borne: life events, carrying, and verb forms"
What is the difference between born and borne?
Born is used for the event of coming into life, including a birthplace or date. Borne is the past participle of bear for carrying, supporting, paying, enduring, or confirming something.
Mina was born in Bristol, but she grew up in Leeds.
Is it correct to say I was born in London?
Yes. Use born for a person's place or time of birth: I was born in London, or she was born in July. Borne is not used for this meaning.
The roof is borne by steel beams beneath the tiles.
What does borne by mean?
Borne by means carried, supported, or paid by someone or something. A roof can be borne by beams, and a charge can be borne by a company.
The extra delivery cost was borne by the supplier.
What does borne out mean?
Borne out appears in the phrase bear out. It means supported or confirmed, as when later facts bear out an earlier claim or estimate.
Their first child was born during a snowy February.
Are born and borne pronounced the same?
Yes. Born and borne are pronounced the same. Use the sentence meaning to choose the spelling: birth takes born, while the other meanings of bear take borne.
Her calm voice was borne across the hall by the microphone.