Born vs Borne: Difference between Them and How to correctly use them

“Born” is the most commonly used term, especially for someone who came into existence, while “Borne” is similar to or related to “Born” as a past participle of “Bear”, and means “give birth to.” “Borne” is not grammatically wrong or associated with other language preferences, though, “Born vs. Borne” is interchangeably used incorrectly in some sentences. It seems difficult to determine whether “Borne or Borne” is the right term to be used because of its close meaning and because it confuses beginner writers and non-native English speakers. The tricky part of using “Born” or “Borne” in phrases is when it is used in a colloquial phrase like, “born out of” or “borne out.” Comparing “Born vs. Borne” they are somewhat the same, but they are not really that similar when used. The phrase “born out of” is figuratively stating “a start.” For example, “Our communal vow was born out of friendship.” On the other hand, “borne out” means it is confirmed or proven. The sentence example is “My plan was borne out by the necessity of my children.”

The differences and comparisons between “Born” and “Borne” Born are listed below.

  • “Born” means existence as a result of birth.
  • “Born” is an adjective term perfectly suited or trained to do a particular job or task.
  • “Born” word describes having a natural ability to do a particular job or task.
  • “Born” is the past participle of the verb “bear.”
  • “Borne” describes being carried or transported by the thing specified.
  • “Borne” means “to contain” or “to give birth to.”
  • “Borne” word is the past participle of “bear.”

Deciding what word to use is slightly easy as long as the meaning is learned and emphasized in the sentence when using “Born” or “Borne.” Use the word “Born”, if the sentence or phrase needs to describe a person’s birth or origin. The word “Born” is used to bring up a memory or event that describes an origin or beginning. An example is, “I was born in Houston, Texas.” The sentence states that the word “Born” is used to describe the origin or the offspring. Besides that, there are ways to use “Born” to describe someone’s personality that is being possessed since birth. Sentence example, “Dory is a born leader.” The word “Born” in the sentence describes that Dory (the subject) possessed the ability to be a leader ever since. It is important to know the meaning of each word in order to deliver the right information or idea to the readers. Content writing is an example of providing the fact that is concise without fluff words or misleading information.

Using the word “Borne” on the other hand describes the subject carrying something physically or figuratively. Sentence example, “John has borne the burden of not being a supportive brother to his siblings.” The sentence describes the word “Borne” as something John is keeping or enduring for a long time. There is some instance where the word “Borne” is used in a compound word, such as, “The air force troops were airborne to get in the top of the building.” The sentence describes the word “Borne” was compounded from the word “air” to describe it as “carried by air.” There will not be a problem using them even in content writing as long as the meaning of “Born” and “Borne” are understood. “Born” and “Borne” are just a few other misused words that sounded the same but have different types of use in a sentence. It is great for content writing because when a knowledgeable reader learns that a written article provides proper use of words, there is a possibility that the article gets recommended to other readers and becomes a regular visitor.

What does “Born” Mean?

“Born” means to come into existence, or be birthed. It is typically associated with a mother that bears a child then gives birth and then the child was born. “Born”, is a verb with a common past-tense form of “to give birth.” Currently, the word “Born” as an adjective is not always used to associate with the word “Bear. “Born” is used to describe a child being born or describing an event or situation,” for example, “Our friendship was born.” The word “Born” is an English word typically used and interchangeably described “Born” and “Borne.” Using the word “Born” correctly to describe an event helps distinguish or appreciate the description of someone that is described. Using the “Born” word in a sentence does not only pertain to associating it with giving birth or a child’s birth. “Born” is a type of word that can be used in a metaphoric phrase or sentence to describe a situation or event more. Incorrect use of “Born” from “Borne” and “Borne” from “Born” will confuse and escalate the wrong definition and use of the word’s true meaning. Reading articles with the wrong use of words such as “Born and Borne” is going to describe the article provider as not a credible source or justified as irrelevant, especially in content writing.

What are the Sentence Examples with “Born”?

Listed below are the sentence examples with “Born.”

  • My mother was very happy when Casey was born.The word “Born” was used as a verb to describe Casey being born. 
  • My mother was very happy when she saw my first born child.The word “Born” is used as a compounded word to describe the child’s level or order, which is being the first being born. Compared to the first sentence, the child, or Casey, was not mentioned in its birth order. While in the second sentence, it is clear that the child was the first out of the siblings.
  • He was a born leader.The word “Born” was used figuratively, not related to being birthed, but describing “He” possessed a natural characteristic or quality as a leader.
  • He was a natural-born leader.The word “Born” is used as an adjective to elaborate more details about “He” being a leader. Natural-born justifies how instinctively “He,” as a leader.

When to Use the word “Born” in a Sentence?

“Born” and “Borne” are both past participles of the verb “Bear”, which means “Carry.” Both of them sounded the same as well. “Born” mostly refers to a birth or figuratively. For example; “Damon is a born leader”, is used figuratively referring to Damon being meant to be a leader ever since. While, “Dave was born in New York”, stating Dave’s birthplace. Using the word “Born” is not limited to “Birth” or “Bear” only. “Born” is used as an adjective as well, in order to describe more about a noun or another adjective.

“Borne” on the other hand cannot be used in the same context as “Born”, due to its different usage and meaning. Here is an example, “I was borne poor.” The sentence example does not make sense in that case since “Born” meant “Carried.” It is allowed to use both words in some sentences, like, “My teacher said that she was born in the place where mosquito-borne fever virus originated.”

What Born the Synonyms of “Born”?

​​Synonyms of “born” are “trained”, “developed”, and “cultivated” which describe “born” figuratively while, the other synonyms of “born” are “congenital”, “deliver”, “hereditary”, “inherent, and “inborn” which describe primarily the relations to birth. For example, “The disease runs throughout their family, sadly she was inherent (born) with it.” Another one, “This hospital should be closer to your heart, you were delivered (born) here.” There are a lot of ways to use the word “Born”, in most cases the word “Born” is expressed figuratively as “beginnings”, “start”, and “innate.”

What Born the Antonyms of “Born”?

Antonyms of “Born” are “die”, “perish”, “demise”, and “expire.” The antonym of “Born” describes an end of life or an event. The antonyms are, “unnatural”, “learned”, “educated”, and “disciplined,” in reference to the adjective. The antonyms of “Born” as an adjective are opposite figuratively, too. Comparing other antonyms of “Born”, “die” and “expire” share the same thought, but the “die” is literally used to describe a person’s life. On the other hand, “expire” is commonly used to describe something that just ended, such as perishable goods, food, medicine, and subscriptions. 

How to spell “Born”?

Born means to come into existence, and it is spelled as “B-O-R-N”. Oftentimes, “Born” is misspelled as “Bourn” it is similar to “Born” word but with an additional vowel “U” after the “O”. The word “Born” and “Bourn” does not have that relationship. The misspelled word “Bourn” means, a destination, the end goal, the limit, or the boundary. The other misspelled “Born” word is “Borne”, it has an identical first 4 letters but with an additional “E” letter at the end. Unlike the word “Bourn”, the word “Borne” have a relationship with the main word “Born”. Both “Born” and “Borne” are past participle forms of the verb “Bear.”

What are the prepositions​​ and helper words for Born?

The prepositions and helper words for “Born” are “to” or “of”. These are 2 examples to implement in a sentence. “Emily, born of a rich family.” “Emily, born to a rich family.” The word “of” is often used when creating a general observation about someone. The word “to” on the other hand is used to provide more detail or information. The term “of” usually refers to a connection or belonging to something in general. The word “to” typically means a direction. Sometimes it just depends on the words and discovering which one is correct in order to make sure that it works for you.

What does “Borne” Mean?

“Borne” is a verb, a past participle form of the word “Bear”. The word “Borne” refers to bearing or carrying something. “Borne” is typically used as an adjective and expressed figuratively. In addition, “Borne” is associated with and used for compounded words like “airborne” (carried through by air), “waterborne” (carried through by water), and “blood-borne” (transmission through the blood). The term “Borne” originates from the word, “Boren” the past participle of “Beran” which means “bearing” or “carrying”, in old English. There are cases where “Borne” be used with birth connotations as an exception for referring to the mother giving birth. However, it is done by describing the mother carrying the child and giving birth as well. An example sentence to use “Borne” in birth connotation is, “She had borne three kids before Marsha.” The word “Borne” in the sentence describes the mother who had already become pregnant with three children before bearing the other child named Marsha.

What are the Sentence Examples with “Borne”?

The word “Borne” is used to describe an action that means “carried”, “held”, or “endure.” These are the 4 example sentences for the word “Borne.” “He was a born hero.” “Laura has acquired a blood-borne disease because of getting tattooed at an unknown tattoo shop.” “Bruno is a natural-born singer.” “Flu is an airborne disease.” There is an exception and a way to use “Borne” to describe or be used to define birth. “My mother had borne 2 children before I was born.” The word “Borne” was used possibly, but the verb describes the mother instead of the child, on top of that, both “Borne” and “Born” were used in the sentence.

When to Use the Word “Borne” in a sentence?

The word “Borne” is used in a sentence to refer to something that is carried, something held, or endured for a long time. “Borne” is used in a compound word like, “airborne”, “waterborne”, or “mosquito-borne” describing something that is carried by the substance or element. Writing with the verb “Borne” the subject does not need to be associated with giving birth or being born. Else, the word “Borne” is more figurative than physical in the sentence. “Borne” is not often used in describing someone’s birth or giving birth unlike the word “Born”, when used in a sentence it describes mostly the mother that gave birth to a child. Though figuratively, “Born” mean, the start, since the beginning, or a new beginning. Both “Born” and “Borne” doesn’t get an adverb, but they are used as an adjective in a sentence. “Her boyfriend is a French-born athlete.” “Charmaine was a born singer.” Some example sentences for the word “borne” are. “Sore eyes or Red eyes is a type of airborne disease.” “Dengue is a mosquito-borne virus that is deadly.” It is possible to use both “Born” and “Borne” in a single sentence. “Mr. Wilson was born in a town where mosquito-borne flu virus became an epidemic.”

What Born the Synonyms of “Borne”?

The synonyms of “Borne” are, “carried”, “sustained”, and “endured.” These are 2 example sentences with corresponding synonyms of the word “Borne.” “Malaria is a type of disease carried by a mosquito (mosquito-borne).” “HIV can only be transmitted by blood because the virus is carried through blood (blood-borne).” The other variation of the word “Borne” is “Beared”. “Borne” replaced the extinct word “Beared” to distinguish “Born” as referring to birth and “Borne” as referring to bearing a child. 

What Born the Antonyms of “Borne”?

The antonyms of the word “Borne” are “unsupported”, “ignored”, and “disregard.” These antonyms of “Borne” are described as no specific action taken, or no intervention was made. Because it is opposite to the word “Borne” which means “carried”, “supported”, and “endured.” Some synonyms have reverse equivalent words such as “Regard” the opposite word “Disregard” and the other “Supported” the antonym of it is “Unsupported”, to distinguish them from each other. 

How to Spell “Borne”?

The word “Borne” is spelled as B-O-R-N-E, it is just like the spelling of “Born” with an “E” letter at the end. The “Borne” word is closely associated with the word “Bourne” or misspelled. “Borne” and “Bourne” does not share the same meaning. The word “Borne” describes something being carried, “Bourne” on the other hand describes boundary, limit, goal, or destination. “Bourne” word as well can be spelled as B-O-U-R-N without the letter “E” but still have the same thought, unlike “Born” and “Borne” that has their own meaning when used in the sentence.

What Born the prepositions and helper words for Borne?

The prepositions and helper words for “Borne” are, “on,” “with” and “by.” These are 3 sentence examples with prepositions and helpers for the word “Borne.” “It’s been a long time since he moved away and borne with the fault for almost 3 years.” “The boy saw a stray puppy and was borne on the arm as the puppy fell asleep.” “The fuel price was borne by the car owners.” The word “on” and “by” is used to refer to dates, days, months, years, and named days, while “with” is used to refer to what to use, to do something.

Comparison between “Born” and “Borne”

Comparing the terms according to the definition, context, lemmatization, stemming (forms), and example sentences are helpful to better understand the difference between “Born” and “Borne”. The word “Born” means differently from the word “Borne.” Thus, the two words and used accordingly based on what context the words are suitable and fit. Sentences are used as provided in the comparison for a clearer understanding. Below is a table comparing “Born” and “Borne” according to the terms’ definitions, context, and forms.

“Born” and “Borne” DifferenceBornBorne
Definition“Born” is used when you’re referring to birth, whether literally (to childbirth) or figuratively.​​“Borne” is used in all other cases, when you’re just referring to bearing (carrying) something. It’s the spelling used in compound words like “airborne”
ContextUsed in the context “giving birth.” Also, in the context of describing the offspring or origin.Used in the context to describe being carried, enduring, or burden.
Lemmatization and Stemming (Forms)Bear, born, bearingBear, borne, bearing
Example sentencesI was not born yesterday.

I was a born leader.

My mother was happy to see my firstborn child. 
He is borne with determination.

She is not alright, born suffering when her dog died.

Most viruses are airborne diseases.

Why are “Born” and “Borne” misused and interchangeably in English?

“Born” and “Borne” are interchangeable and misused English terms because they are both past participles of the word “Bear.” Most sentence constructors misused such terms or defined them differently in meaning by a non-writer. “Born” and “Borne” are homophones, which is why many have misused them in their daily usage and even in their work. The spelling is tricky because the first 4 letters are the same, the only distinguishable part is the last letter, which is the letter “E” on the word “Borne.” Most people put articles that are not checked or sometimes are placed into a forum as a subject but have mistakenly provided the wrong word to use. It is easy with today’s technology to determine whether the grammar of unpublished content is ready to go or needs revision. Most written content undergoes proofreading and copyright before being published. 

Are “Born” and “Borne” in the most commonly misused English words?

Yes, “Born” and “Borne” is commonly misused English words. However, because of the new technologies in the software provided for content writing it is somehow misusing “Born” and “Borne” is prevented. There is a possibility that the thought interchangeably is used because the word “Born” and “Borne” are homophones. Especially for those who are non-native English speakers or writers, there is a chance that the word “Born” be used instead of “Borne” and vice versa. Good thing the world now has advanced technology-provided helpers that efficiently correct grammar and spelling. It is not a hundred percent the solution, but preventing misusing the word “Born” to “Borne” is a lot, especially for content writing. These misused English words are tricky because they are closely related to each other in meaning and other forms, but defining them individually is not that complicated to learn.

What are the other similar Misused Word Pairs like “Borne” and “Born” in English?

Aside from “Borne” and “Born,” there are a lot more English word pairs that are misused. Most of the pairs are homonyms, or words that sound alike but mean differently. The words are misused because the pair sounds alike and sometimes are spelled similarly. The best way to correctly use the words and avoid confusion is to understand the meaning and the context in which a word can be used. Below is a list of other misused word pairs, like “Borne” and “Born” in English.

  • Are and Our: The words “Are and Our” are similar misused word pairs in English like “borne” and “born.” The pronunciation of “are” and “our” is very identical the same to “born” and “borne” because these are homonyms. However, the spelling and meaning are entirely different. “Are” and “our” use different letters except for “r” which is placed distinctly. “Are” is a plural linking verb, while “our” expresses ownership and belonging.
  • Accept and Except: “Accept and Except” The English terms “accept” and “except” are commonly interchanged similar to “born” and “borne.” “Accept” and “except” most likely sound the same when read verbally. On top of that, their spelling only varies in “ac” and “ex” in the first half, and both contain “cept” as the end part. The definition of “accept” is “consent to receive,” while “except” is defined as “not including” or “not other than.”
  • “Loose” and “Lose”: “Loose” and “lose” are two words that are often confused. The same as “born” and “borne,” the words “loose” and “lose” have an additional letter which is “o.” Apart from that, “loose” and “lose” are pronounced in the same manner, but the first word is associated with the sound “s” and the second word is “z.” Furthermore, “loose” means a lack to have a tight or strong grip, whereas “lose” means not being able to possess. 
  • “To” and “Too”: “To” and “Too” “To” and “too” are frequently interchanged words in English, just like “born” and “borne.” The words “to,” “too,” “born,” and “borne” are varying with added letters, namely “o” and “e.” On the contrary, “to” and “too” are completely similar when talking about their pronunciation. “To” is a preposition that indicates direction. Meanwhile, “too” means on a higher level than what is suitable. 
  • “Canvass” and “Canvas”: The “canvass” and “canvas” are among the most misinterpreted words. “Canvass” has an extra consonant “s” when compared to “canvas” which is identical to the vowel “e” of “borne” and “born.” There are no distinguishing characteristics in terms of pronouncing the words “canvass” and “canvas” because they are homonyms. “Canvass” has the definition of “an act of soliciting votes.” On the other hand, “canvas” means “a strong, coarse unbleached cloth made from hemp, flax, cotton, or a similar yarn, utilized to create things like sails and tents and as a platform for painting using oil.”

How do Content Writers use “Born” and “Borne” in their articles?

Content writers use “Born” and “Borne” in their articles, though there are slight differences between them. The verb needed to be used is “Born”, if the sentence needs to emphasize an offspring or needs to bring up a subject of birth. Thus, must be applied in a passive sentence manner. For example, “He was born in Boston.” “No child has been born on that island in the last two years because of the diseases that break out.” Meanwhile, using the word “Borne” in content writing is not to describe physical birth, else it is primarily used to mean “carried.” For example, “Teachers have borne the burden for the children’s learning.” “COVID-19 is an airborne disease.”

Are born and borne homophones?

Yes, “Born” and “Borne” are homophones, they sound alike but are not the same in meaning in a sentence. Homophones are words that sounded the same but have different meanings. “Born” and “Borne” are pronounced as (bôrn) though they are related because of the past participle “Bear”, but both of them describe differently in a sentence. “Born” primarily is used to describe the birth and new beginnings, while “Borne” however, defines something that is “carried” or “endured”.

Do Content Writers use “Born” and “Borne” in a wrong way?

Yes, content writers do use “Born” and “Borne” in the wrong way. However, today’s technology is more advanced and intuitive. There are many software helpers that assist writers to determine the proper use of words and grammar. Most of the articles that are not published undergo proofreading and revisions. The finished articles have some incorrect words, but 99% of the articles written are filtered and checked. The word “Born” and “Borne” are sometimes interchange, but developer tools such as plug-ins detects the inconsistent word used. It is helpful for providing excellent and accurate content, and it is the best SEO practice to reach the goal of getting a good amount of traffic for the website. 

Do Misused Words such as “Borne” and “Born” Affect SEO and UX?

Yes, misused words such as “Borne” and “Born” affect SEO and UX. However, “Borne” and “Born” share the form “Bear.” SEO was still young in the late 90s, it was like everything goes whatever because the rules and policies of search engines were not that complex when it came to ranking webpages. Right now, the algorithms of Google and most search engines learn and improving their ranking formula. The search engine has an AI program that learns grammar, spelling, and definition of each website’s content, in regard to how it impacts SEO and UX. The AI knows that there is an irrelevant word because according to its library, the specific words belong to or match the past crawled pages that are not relevant. Therefore, it definitely affects the SEO and the user experience.

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Born vs Borne: Difference between Them and How to correctly use them

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