verb
to bite
B1
Beißen: means 'to bite' (physically). Strong irregular verb with haben as auxiliary; Präteritum 'biss', Partizip II 'gebissen'. Not reflexive, transitive (someone bites something). Present stem shows vowel change ei→i in past forms and du/er forms use ß (beißt). Non‑separable. Also used idiomatically.
Examples
Der Hund biss den Postboten, als dieser das Paket auf den Boden stellte.
The dog bit the postman when he put the package on the ground.
Der Hund beißt nicht.
The dog doesn't bite.
Ich wurde von einer Mücke gebissen.
I was bitten by a mosquito.
Details
Mnemonics
Imagine a dog baring teeth and taking a quick 'bite' — the sharp 'ei' in German sounds like the short sharp action.
sounds like 'bites' in English
Notes
Commonly used for animals and people; watch the spelling with ß after the vowel in standard orthography (beißen, beißt). Past participle is irregular: gebissen.