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Which is the correct word in the following?

  1. Two of the children borne by her were sent to the orphanage

  2. Two of the children born by her were sent to the orphanage

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  • Welcome to ELU. There is an answer to a similar question elsewhere on this site: english.stackexchange.com/questions/262332/…
    – Shoe
    Commented Sep 7, 2018 at 9:32
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    What did a dictionary tell you about "born" and "borne"? That should answer your question. If it doesn't, please give details of your research in your question and explain why it doesn't answer your question.
    – AndyT
    Commented Sep 7, 2018 at 9:41
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    What's funny is that both answers are correct—in the right context. Even if using borne in the sense of endured, parents will jokingly threaten to send unruly children who give them grief to the orphanage. It's not unheard of for that joke to actually be a reality in some cases.
    – Jason Bassford
    Commented Sep 7, 2018 at 9:59

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The first is correct. See https://www.dictionary.com/browse/borne and scroll down to the 'Usage note'. We write 'The child was born' but 'She has borne a child'.

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  • The point about borne referencing the mother is salient. “The child was born” references the child, but “The child was borne” references the mother, equiv. “The child was given birth to”.
    – Lawrence
    Commented Sep 7, 2018 at 10:56
  • The Usage note here is also helpful.
    – michael.hor257k
    Commented Sep 7, 2018 at 12:51
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I found an earlier discussion on the use of "born by" on this site. That was in July 2015. That might help. The Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary, sixth edition, has this under the verb "born": "used only in the passive, without by". And there is the following sentence under the verb "bear": "She had borne him six sons". For me the passive is "Six sons had been borne by her", not "born by her". So "borne by" seems to be correct.

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Borne means carried by.

Born means Existing as a result of birth.

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Your first sentence "Two of the children borne by her were sent to the orphanage" does not make sense, as the word borne is referred to meaning "as meaning carried, sustained, or endured".

The second sentence "Two of the children born by her were sent to the orphanage" is correct, as the word born refers to being brought in to the world, e.g. a baby being born.

I would maybe even restructure the second sentence to the following: "Two of her children were sent to the orphanage"

Or you could maybe even have it as: "Two of her biological children were sent to the orphanage In this case Biological refers to the children she gave birth to

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  • Please do not use backticks for quoting, they are supposed to be used for code, either place words in italics or in “quotations”.
    – Mari-Lou A
    Commented Sep 7, 2018 at 8:54
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    I have updated my answer to include quotations instead of backticks
    – Wool
    Commented Sep 7, 2018 at 9:00

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