Taeeonada Conjugation: 태어나다 Meaning, Forms & Examples

Key Facts

• Hangul: 태어나다 (taeeonada)
• Meaning: to be born
• Level: A2
• Stem: 태어나
• Class: regular
• Polite present / past: 태어나요 / 태어났어요
• Honorific polite: 태어나세요

What Does 태어나다 Mean?

It has one core meaning:

• to be born. Come into life, as in 서울에서 태어나다 (be born in Seoul).

It takes no object: the place takes 에서 (서울에서 태어났어요) and the person born takes 이/가 or 은/는. When you talk about your own birth, use the past 태어났어요. Two handy noun phrases are built on the past modifier: 태어난 곳 (birthplace) and 태어난 날 (birthday).

How Do You Pronounce 태어나다?

In Revised Romanization, 태어나다 is written taeeonada. The dictionary form is read as spelled.

These conjugated forms sound different from their spelling:

• 태어났어요 [태어나써요]
• 태어날 거예요 [태어날꺼예요]
• 태어나겠어요 [태어나게써요]
• 태어납니다 [태어남니다]
• 태어났습니다 [태어낟씀니다]
• 태어날 것입니다 [태어날꺼심니다]
• 태어났어 [태어나써]
• 태어날 거야 [태어날꺼야]
• 태어나지 않아요 [태어나지 아나요]

How Do You Use 태어나다 in a Sentence?

저는 서울에서 태어났어요 uses the past with a place marked by 에서, the standard way to state where you were born. (태어났어요)

The future 태어날 거예요 fits an expected birth. The subject 아기가 is the baby, not the parent. (태어날 거예요)

The ending 서 in 태어나서 links two facts in order: born in Busan, then living in Seoul. (태어나서)

How Does Taeeonada Conjugation Work? (19 forms)

The table has no want-to form. It exists, mostly in wishes about being born again, but it is rare in everyday talk.

Is 태어나다 Regular or Irregular?

Regular verbs keep the stem as it is and take the vowel-harmony ending. Here the stem 태어나 gives 태어나요 in the present and 태어났어요 in the past. The rule is taught in polite present recipe.

Which Mistake Do Learners Make When They Say 'to Be Born'?

Wrong: ✗ 저는 서울에서 태어나요

Correct: ✓ 저는 서울에서 태어났어요

Why: Say 'I was born' in the past: 태어났어요. The present 태어나요 describes births in general.

Present-tense 태어나요 is read as a general statement about births, so it does not fit your own history. Your birth is a finished event, so use 태어났어요.

Which Words Are Easy to Confuse with 'to Be Born'?

A quick test: if the baby is the subject, use 태어나다 (아기가 태어났어요); if the mother is the subject, use 낳다.

Talking about a New Baby

Two colleagues are looking at a photo of a newborn. Both use polite speech. The conversation uses the past for the completed birth and the modifier 태어난 before a place noun.

Colleague A

Colleague B

Colleague A

Colleague B

언제 asks for the time of birth, and 어제 answers it. 태어난 곳 turns the event into a noun phrase, “the place where the baby was born”. The last answer uses 에서 because Seoul is where the birth happened.

Useful Phrases Built from 태어나다

태어난 곳 means “the place where someone was born”. The modifier 태어난 describes a completed birth, and 곳 means place. You can use the phrase for a city, country, or more precise location, depending on what the listener needs. It does not automatically identify where the person grew up.

태어난 날 means “the day someone was born”. In an account of a particular birth, it refers to that original day. The everyday noun 생일, “birthday”, also names the anniversary celebrated each year. A birthday invitation usually needs 생일 rather than a long explanation of the birth event.

다시 태어나다 literally means “to be born again”. In a story it may concern another life, but it can also describe a dramatic renewal. A report about a renovated building or a changed organisation may use the image of being reborn. The subject tells you whether an actual birth is involved.

Where Will You See 태어나다?

In a biography, 태어나다 introduces the start of someone's life. The sentence often gives a year and birthplace before moving on to childhood or education. The birth verb marks one event, while 자라다 covers the longer process of growing up.

In family messages, the past form announces a baby who has arrived. For an expected baby, 태어날 거예요 places the event in the future. This reports an expectation; the grammar itself does not guarantee an exact date. A time phrase such as 다음 달에 gives the expected period.

Forms often use the noun 생년월일, “date of birth”, as a short field label. That label asks for a date rather than a full sentence with 태어나다. Recognising both forms helps you move between spoken introductions and written personal information.

What Makes the English Translation Misleading?

English “was born” contains “was”, but Korean uses the complete verb 태어나다 with a past ending. You do not need a separate Korean word meaning “be” before 태어났어요. The person born is the subject; a birthplace is marked separately with 에서.

The table's 태어나세요 shows the honorific present form, but a birth is not normally something you order someone to do. In conversation about an older person's birth, you need a past honorific expression rather than using this present form as a request. Choose tense from the event before choosing a polite ending.

Write 태어나다 as one word, and keep it together in 태어났어요 and 태어난. In 태어난 곳, the space goes before the noun 곳. For the future 태어날 거예요, the space goes before 거예요. These boundaries remain even when the phrase is spoken smoothly.

Related Words for Life Histories

The family vocabulary lesson supplies the relationships needed to explain whose baby or childhood you mean. Use the birthday phrases lesson for a birthday greeting.

Mini Drill: Choose the Right Form

1. Complete your birth history: 저는 부산에서 ___.
2. Put 태어나다 before 곳 for “birthplace”.
3. Complete the expected birth: 다음 달에 아기가 ___ 거예요.

Quick Self-Test

1. Who is the subject of 아기가 태어났어요?
2. Does 태어난 곳 necessarily mean the place someone grew up?
3. What word usually names an annual birthday celebration?

Frequently Asked Questions

Is 태어나다 a Regular or Irregular Verb?

Regular. The stem 태어나 never changes; with 아요 it simply contracts to 태어나요, and the past is 태어났어요.

What Is the Polite Present Form of 태어나다 ('to be born')?

태어나요. For your own birth you normally use the past instead: 저는 서울에서 태어났어요 (I was born in Seoul). The future is 태어날 거예요 and the honorific polite form is 태어나세요.

Does 태어나다 Take an Object?

No. The place takes 에서 (서울에서 태어났어요) and the person born takes 이/가 or 은/는.

Why Is There No Want-to Form for 태어나다?

The form exists, mostly in wishes about being born again, but it is rare in everyday talk, so the table leaves it out.

Which Noun Phrases Come from This Verb?

태어난 곳 (birthplace) and 태어난 날 (birthday), both built on the past modifier 태어난.

Which Words Are Related to 태어나다?

• 죽다
• 키우다
• 살다

What Should You Learn Next?

Once 태어나다 feels settled, continue with the related entries above. To compare 태어나요 with other verbs, use the Korean verb conjugator or browse the verb dictionary.