Selva001  +  230470 Tue, 30 May 06 01:12 PM Enlighten me on the use of the word "Born" "The baby is born" - Is it a passive sentence? Is the word born a past participle? What is the present tense for "born" Or am i simply too confused about the use of the word? Selva001 Joined on Tue, May 30 2006 New Member 04 Tenses, Present Tenses, Passive Sentences

	Clive  +  231177 Thu, 01 Jun 06 02:25 AM Hi Selva, Welcome to the Forum. "The baby is born" - Is it a passive sentence? Is the word born a past participle? What is the present tense for "born" The active verb is 'bear'. A woman bears a child  / bore a child. However, this active form is rarely used in everyday English. We say A woman has a baby / had a baby. I was born in 1970 is a passive sentence. However, we tend not to think of the word 'born' in the sense of a verb, but rather as an adjective. In her book on 'Teaching Tenses', Rosemary Aitken has a quote that I like. She says, about the the past participle in the passive, 'It is difficult to determine where adjectives begin and passives stop'. Best wishes, Clive Clive Joined on Thu, Oct 28 2004 Canada Veteran Member 29,679 El tango argentino es un pensamiento triste que se puede bailar (The tango argentino is a sad thought which can be danced) Enrique Santos Discépolo Verbs, Tenses, Present Tenses, Passive Sentences

	Selva001  +  231252 Thu, 01 Jun 06 06:55 AM Thank you clive, I have never found someone explaining things so clearly as you did. I really appreciate your response. Selva001