biegen

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German[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Middle High German biegen, from Old High German biogan, from Proto-West Germanic *beugan, from Proto-Germanic *beuganą, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰewgʰ- (to bend).

Pronunciation[edit]

  • IPA(key): /ˈbiːɡən/
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Verb[edit]

biegen (class 2 strong, third-person singular present biegt, past tense bog, past participle gebogen, past subjunctive böge, auxiliary haben)

  1. (transitive) to bend something (to form something into a curve) [auxiliary haben]
    Diese Stange kann man leicht biegen.
    You can easily bend this pole.
  2. (reflexive) to bend; to be bent (to form oneself or be formed into a curve) [auxiliary haben]
    Die Bäume biegen sich im Wind.
    The trees are bending in the wind.
  3. (intransitive) to turn; to round a corner; to drive into a street; always requires some adverbial of location with it; otherwise use abbiegen [auxiliary sein]
    Er ist um die Ecke gebogen.
    He’s turned around the corner.
    Er biegt auf die Hauptstraße.
    He turns into the main street.

Usage notes[edit]

  • biegen is the most general word for “to bend”. However, in some cases beugen is preferable. See the latter for detailed notes.

Conjugation[edit]

Derived terms[edit]

See also[edit]

Further reading[edit]

  • biegen” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache
  • biegen” in Uni Leipzig: Wortschatz-Lexikon
  • biegen” in Duden online
  • biegen” in OpenThesaurus.de

Middle High German[edit]

Etymology[edit]

Inherited from Old High German biogan.

Verb[edit]

biegen (class 2 strong, third-person singular present biuget, past tense bouc, past participle gebogen, past subjunctive büge, auxiliary hân)

  1. to bow
    Dir sich biegent elliu knie.All knees bow to you.
  2. to bend

Conjugation[edit]

Descendants[edit]

  • German: biegen

References[edit]

  • Benecke, Georg Friedrich, Müller, Wilhelm, Zarncke, Friedrich (1863) “biegen”, in Mittelhochdeutsches Wörterbuch: mit Benutzung des Nachlasses von Benecke[1], Stuttgart: S. Hirzel