biegen

German

Etymology

From Middle High German biegen, from Old High German biogan, from Proto-Germanic *beuganą.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈbiːɡən/
  • Audio(file)
  • Audio (Austria)(file)

Verb

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

  1. (transitive, auxiliary “haben”) to bend something (to form something into a curve)
    Diese Stange kann man leicht biegen.
    You can easily bend this pole.
  2. (reflexive, auxiliary “haben”) to bend; to be bent (to form oneself or be formed into a curve)
    Die Bäume biegen sich im Wind.
    The trees are bending in the wind.
  3. (intransitive, auxiliary “sein”) to turn; to round a corner; to drive into a street; always requires some adverbial of location with it; otherwise use abbiegen
    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

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

Conjugation

Derived terms

See also

Further reading

Middle High German

Etymology

From Old High German biogan.

Verb

biegen

  1. to bow
  2. to bend

Conjugation

Descendants

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