Expression "She's born to be a star"?

English as a Second Language English Vocabulary, Grammar and Idioms
1

Hi,
Can we ever say “She’s born to be a star”? I know “She was born to be a star” is correct but I just wonder if we can use the present tense here to indicate/emphasise the fact.

Many thanks
Nessie

2

Hi Nessie

I’d say that sort of usage would be fairly unlikely. Saying something such as “She is a born star” or “She is destined to be a star” would be more common.
.

3

Oh, I’m a bit surprised to know that :stuck_out_tongue:

So “She is born to be a star” is different from “She’s born to be star”?

:):slight_smile:

4

No, Nessie. Those two sentences mean the same thing (i.e. she’s = she is).

The use of the simple past tense would be typical in your sentence. I’m not sure people would choose to emphasize that idea simply by changing ‘was’ to ‘is’. That’s why I mentioned the word ‘is’ being used this way, for example: “She is a born star”. I’d say it would be even more common to hear something such as “She is a natural born star”.
.

5

Thanks a lot Amy :slight_smile:

By the way, how often do you hear “She is born to be a star”?

Many thanks
Nessie

6

I can’t specifically remember having ever heard anyone use it, Nessie.
.

7

Nor I.

If one is hell-bent on being born as something other than human, a star is one of the top options… nobody was ever born to be a planet. (at least until Shaq makes “Big Planet” his next self-appointed nickname. As far as I know he’s still “Big Continent” or some such ridiculous moniker)

Seriously, though, there are two main ways I hear it stated – and they are structurally different:

  1. She was born to be a star.
  2. She is a born star. (this may well be the more common way to employ the present tense)
8

I would agree with Amy and Prez. Sometimes people make slight mistakes with set phrases, so you might hear “She is born to be X” for “She was born to be X”; but it would only be a mistake.

Best wishes,

MrP