Naître in the present and past tenses

John C.C1Kwiziq Q&A regular contributor

Naître in the present and past tenses

One of the test questions for this lesson is: Zoë est née avant Lèo. Zoë is born before Léo. Is this past tense translation correct because the speaker is necessarily speaking about a past event? Could we use the present tense here?
Asked 8 years ago
AurélieNative French expert teacher in KwiziqCorrect answer
Bonjour John,

Yes, it's definitely a translation error.
If you used the present of "naître" in French, it would mean they're being born right now, or weirder, that they're born regularly !
You can use the present form in a general context, for example:
"Tous les ans, des quintuplés naissent dans le monde." (Every year, quintuplets are born in the world.)

The error has been fixed!
Merci et à bientôt !
LauraNative French expert teacher in Kwiziq
Bonjour, It's a mistake, it should say "was born," or else, as you suggest, naître should be in the present tense.
Jennifer C.C1Kwiziq Q&A regular contributor
What about in a dramatic real time senario, eg the baby is born as the clock strikes midnight. Would the french be nait or est né?

Naître in the present and past tenses

One of the test questions for this lesson is: Zoë est née avant Lèo. Zoë is born before Léo. Is this past tense translation correct because the speaker is necessarily speaking about a past event? Could we use the present tense here?

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