naCImos

Nacimos is the first-person plural preterite form of the Spanish verb nacer, meaning we were born. It is used to describe the moment of birth for a group of people in the past, with the action completed. For example, “Nacimos en Barcelona” or “Nacimos en 1990.” In everyday narrative, it often appears when recounting personal or family histories.

Grammatical notes: Nacer is intransitive, so nacimos does not take a direct object. It is contrasted with the present tense “nacemos” (we are born) and the imperfect “nací, nacías, nacía, nacíamos, nacíais, nacían.” The preterite form emphasizes a definite past event rather than ongoing or habitual past action. In subordinate clauses, nacimos is commonly used with time markers such as cuando or en, as in “Cuando nacimos, nuestra familia era pequeña.”

Pronunciation and regional usage: nacimos is pronounced with the stress on the second syllable: na-CI-mos in standard Spanish. In most Latin American dialects, the c before i is pronounced as /s/, yielding [na-SI-mos], while in Peninsular Spanish it may be [na-θi-mos] for speakers using ce/ci before i. Spelling remains nacimos across dialects.

Etymology and related terms: nacimos derives from Latin nascere meaning “to be born.” Related words include nacimiento (birth), nacido (born, past participle), and naciente (nascent).

See also: nacer, nacimiento, nacido.