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Green Level

Lesson Two

"I was born…"

One good way to begin thinking about the passive voice is with this question:

"Where were you born?"

The answer: I was born in ___________ (country).

This common question is in the passive voice. The verb "bear" means to have or to produce children, but no one says, for example, "Where did your mother bear you?"

For time and place of birth, the questions are almost always asked like this:

Where were you born?
When were you born?

This lesson is focused only on where and when you were born. These are questions you must know how to ask and answer when you live in the United States.

Singular	Plural
I was born	We were born
You were born	You were born
He was born
She was born	They were born
It was born

The simple form of the verb is "bear." The past tense is "bore." The past participle is "born." The words "bear" and "bore" are typically not used when describing a birth — except for animals.

simple	past	past participle
bear	bore	born

examples

I was born in Germany. I was born in 1963.
You were born in _______. (name of country)
This radio announcer was born in Iran. He was born in Iran.
This famous actress was born in India. She was born in India. Do you know when she was born?
This penguin was born in a zoo. It was born in a zoo.
We were born in different countries. I was born in Germany, and you were born in Vietnam.	I you
You were born in the United States.
These children were all born in the United States. They were born in the United States.

Exercise: write

Question	Answer
1. When were you born?	I was born in (year)
2. Where were you born?	I was born in (country)

Next: Lesson Three

present tense, passive voice