biegen

German

Etymology

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

• IPA^(key): /ˈbiːɡən/

• Audio

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• Audio

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• Audio (Austria)

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Verb

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)

   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)

   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

   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

• beugen
• krümmen

Further reading

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

Middle High German

Etymology

Inherited from Old High German biogan.

Verb

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

Descendants

• German: biegen

References

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