Naître Verb Conjugation: Every Tense Explained With Translations & Examples
Is Naître Verb Conjugation confusing because the verb only appears in certain tenses and always uses être? Naître is a powerful and symbolic French verb used to express birth, origin, emergence, and beginnings. It is one of DR MRS VANDERTRAMP verbs. This guide explains every tense and mood clearly, with natural English translations and real-life examples that show how naître is actually used.
Let’s start with what makes naître unique.
What You Need To Know Before Conjugating Naître
Naître means to be born or to come into existence. It is an irregular verb that always uses être in compound tenses, and its past participle né must agree in gender and number. Because birth happens once, naître is naturally limited in tense usage.
Indicative Mood
The indicative mood is used to state facts, historical events, and real situations, which is how naître is most commonly used.
Present Tense (Présent – Rarely Used)
The present tense of naître is grammatically correct but rare in real life. It is mostly used in figurative or literary contexts to describe something that is emerging or coming into existence.
| Subject | Conjugation | English Translation |
|---|---|---|
| Je | nais | I am born / I am coming into being |
| Tu | nais | you are born |
| Il / Elle / On | naît | he / she is born |
| Nous | naissons | we are born |
| Vous | naissez | you are born |
| Ils / Elles | naissent | they are born |
Examples:
- Une idée naît. → An idea is born.
- Un mouvement naît lentement. → A movement is emerging slowly.
- Des projets naissent ici. → Projects are being born here.
To talk about birth as a past fact, French uses another tense.
Imperfect Tense (Imparfait – Very Rare)
The imperfect tense of naître is uncommon and mostly appears in literature to describe background context or repeated births in historical narratives.
| Subject | Conjugation | English Translation |
|---|---|---|
| Je | naissais | I was being born |
| Tu | naissais | you were being born |
| Il / Elle / On | naissait | he / she was being born |
| Nous | naissions | we were being born |
| Vous | naissiez | you were being born |
| Ils / Elles | naissaient | they were being born |
Examples:
- Des légendes naissaient à cette époque. → Legends were being born at that time.
- Une génération naissait. → A generation was emerging.
- Des idées nouvelles naissaient. → New ideas were emerging.
The most common tense for naître is the passé composé.
Passé Composé (Most Common)
The passé composé is used to state the fact of birth. Since naître always uses être, agreement is mandatory. In English, this tense simply translates as “was born.”
| Subject | Conjugation | English Translation |
|---|---|---|
| Je | suis né(e) | I was born |
| Tu | es né(e) | you were born |
| Il / Elle / On | est né(e) | he / she was born |
| Nous | sommes né(e)s | we were born |
| Vous | êtes né(e)(s) | you were born |
| Ils / Elles | sont né(e)s | they were born |
Examples:
- Je suis né en France. → I was born in France.
- Elle est née en 1995. → She was born in 1995.
- Ils sont nés le même jour. → They were born on the same day.
To indicate that a birth happened before another past event, French uses the plus-que-parfait.
Plus-Que-Parfait
The plus-que-parfait shows that someone had already been born before another past action. In English, it translates as “had been born.”
| Subject | Conjugation | English Translation |
|---|---|---|
| Je | étais né(e) | I had been born |
| Tu | étais né(e) | you had been born |
| Il / Elle / On | était né(e) | he / she had been born |
| Nous | étions né(e)s | we had been born |
| Vous | étiez né(e)(s) | you had been born |
| Ils / Elles | étaient né(e)s | they had been born |
Examples:
- Il était né avant la guerre. → He had been born before the war.
- Elle était née à Paris. → She had been born in Paris.
- Nous étions déjà nés. → We had already been born.
Some tenses are mainly useful for reading historical or literary texts.
Passé Simple (Rare – Literary)
The passé simple of naître appears mostly in literature and historical writing.
| Subject | Conjugation | English Translation |
|---|---|---|
| Je | naquis | I was born |
| Tu | naquis | you were born |
| Il / Elle / On | naquit | he / she was born |
| Nous | naquîmes | we were born |
| Vous | naquîtes | you were born |
| Ils / Elles | naquirent | they were born |
Examples:
- Il naquit en silence. → He was born in silence.
- Elle naquit dans ce village. → She was born in that village.
- Des héros naquirent ainsi. → Heroes were born that way.
French also uses the future tense for figurative or planned emergence.
Simple Future (Futur Simple – Figurative)
The future tense of naître is used mainly in figurative or philosophical contexts to talk about ideas, movements, or events that will emerge.
| Subject | Conjugation | English Translation |
|---|---|---|
| Je | naîtrai | I will be born |
| Tu | naîtras | you will be born |
| Il / Elle / On | naîtra | he / she will be born |
| Nous | naîtrons | we will be born |
| Vous | naîtrez | you will be born |
| Ils / Elles | naîtront | they will be born |
Examples:
- Un nouveau projet naîtra. → A new project will be born.
- Une idée naîtra bientôt. → An idea will emerge soon.
- Des solutions naîtront. → Solutions will emerge.
Subjunctive Mood
The subjunctive is used to express emotion, judgment, doubt, or necessity, especially with abstract or figurative uses of naître.
Present Subjunctive
In English, this usually becomes “for something to be born” or “that something should be born.”
| Subject | Conjugation | English Translation |
|---|---|---|
| Que je | naisse | for me to be born / that I should be born |
| Que tu | naisses | for you to be born |
| Qu’il / elle / on | naisse | for him/her to be born |
| Que nous | naissions | for us to be born |
| Que vous | naissiez | for you to be born |
| Qu’ils / elles | naissent | for them to be born |
Examples:
- Il faut qu’une idée naisse. → An idea needs to be born.
- Je doute qu’un projet naisse. → I doubt a project will emerge.
- Bien que des tensions naissent… → Although tensions arise…
Past Subjunctive
Used when the birth or emergence happened before the main verb. In English, it usually becomes “to have been born.”
| Subject | Conjugation | English Translation |
|---|---|---|
| Que je | sois né(e) | for me to have been born |
| Que tu | sois né(e) | for you to have been born |
| Qu’il / elle / on | soit né(e) | for him/her to have been born |
| Que nous | soyons né(e)s | for us to have been born |
| Que vous | soyez né(e)(s) | for you to have been born |
| Qu’ils / elles | soient né(e)s | for them to have been born |
Examples:
- Je suis heureux qu’il soit né ici. → I’m happy he was born here.
- Bien qu’elle soit née ailleurs… → Although she was born elsewhere…
- Je doute qu’ils soient nés ensemble. → I doubt they were born together.
Conditional Mood (Rare – Hypothetical)
The conditional of naître is rare and mostly philosophical or literary, used to imagine hypothetical emergence.
| Subject | Conjugation | English Translation |
|---|---|---|
| Je | naîtrais | I would be born |
| Tu | naîtrais | you would be born |
| Il / Elle / On | naîtrait | he / she would be born |
| Nous | naîtrions | we would be born |
| Vous | naîtriez | you would be born |
| Ils / Elles | naîtraient | they would be born |
Examples:
- Une idée naîtrait ici. → An idea would be born here.
- Un projet naîtrait de cela. → A project would emerge from that.
- Des conflits naîtraient. → Conflicts would arise.
Final Takeaway
The Naître Verb Conjugation is unique because it expresses origin, birth, and emergence rather than action. Once you understand that it always uses être and appears mainly in past and figurative contexts, naître becomes a powerful verb for both factual and abstract expression.
