I’m Born or I Was Born – Which Is Correct? (+Examples)

What’s the most appropriate way to share information about your birth with someone? Should you say “I’m Born” or “I Was Born”?

We want to know which form is grammatically correct and which should be avoided. And we want to know the best way to use it, to convey information.

I’m Born or I Was Born – Which Is Correct?

You were born in the past. Therefore, you should speak about that event in your life in the past tense. “I’m Born” is incorrect and it’s not an appropriate form to use. To talk about the place, the circumstances, or the details of your birth always use “I Was Born”.

Let’s go over some examples:

• I’m born on October 8th. (incorrect)
• I was born on October 8th.

• I’m born to a very good family. (incorrect)
• I was born to a very good family.

“I’m Born” is an incorrect way to state information about your birth because the verb tense doesn’t agree with the time in which the event took place. An individual’s birth happened in the past and, simply put, it should be addressed using a verb in the past tense.

Never use “I’m Born”. Always use “I Was Born”.

I’m Born

“I’m Born” is an incorrect way to talk about anything related to your time of birth. “I’m Born” is a phrase in the Present tense and everyone was born in the past. This event in an individual’s life should be addressed as “I Was Born”.

Let’s take a look at some examples that include the incorrect phrase “I’m Born” followed by the corrected version of the same sentence.

1. I’m born on January 7th. (incorrect)
2. I was born on January 7th.

3. Jean was born on a Saturday. (incorrect)
4. Jean was born on a Saturday.

5. I’m born in this hospital. (incorrect)
6. I was born in this hospital.

The phrase “I’m Born” is grammatically incorrect and, as such, should always be avoided. When speaking about your birth and the circumstances around it, don’t try to be over-polished or even to sound poetic, by using an expression that no one else uses.

“I’m Born” should simply be avoided at all costs and never used because it’s a phrase in the Present tense, trying to describe an event that happened in the past.

I Was Born

“I Was Born” is the correct way to talk about your date of birth and anything around this subject. We were all born in the past, so it’s only natural that we speak about it in the Simple Past tense. The verb has to agree with the event it’s describing.

Take a look at some examples below:

1. I was born in 1978.
2. My first daughter was born in 1998.
3. My twin and I were both born on a holiday.
4. Lorraine was born on February 12th.
5. Joshua was born in that hospital.

Even if you’re talking about a newborn, their birth is still in the past. A baby delivered by their mom yesterday “Was Born” yesterday. It doesn’t matter from where you look at this, “I Was Born” is the only phrase that makes sense and you’d be reasonable in a speech.

Which Is Used the Most?

When comparing a correct form with an incorrect one, it’s possible to guess which one of those forms would be used more often. Are we correct? Let’s take a look at the graph from Google Ngram Viewer below and see.

As expected, the correct form “I Was Born” appears at the top of the graph being used much more frequently than “I’m Born” – which we expected would pop up at the bottom of the graph, simply because it’s incorrect.

Never forget that the fact that incorrect phrases still appear on the graph doesn’t make them correct. “I’m Born” is incorrect, and should be avoided even if some people (as we can see on the map) still use it.

Final Thoughts

“I Was Born”, in the Simple Past tense, is the correct form to talk about your birth and everything about it. You were born sometime in the past, and that’s how that event in your life should be addressed. “I’m Born” is incorrect and should be avoided.