bíta ("to bite") is the textbook model of strong Class 1, and learning it well is one of the best investments in the whole strong-verb system, because Class 1 is large, regular, and predictable. The class runs on a single vowel series: í – ei – i – i. Present bít, preterite singular beit, preterite plural bitu, supine bitið. Master that pattern on bíta and you can conjugate a whole family of common verbs — skína (shine), ríða (ride), líða (pass/feel), stíga (step), grípa (grab) — by analogy, just by swapping the consonants. This page gives the full paradigm of bíta, shows how the series generalises, and covers its accusative object and the reciprocal middle bítast ("bite each other").
Conjugation
Class: strong, Class 1 (the í–ei–i–i series). Auxiliary: hafa — ég hef bitið "I have bitten." The stem vowel is the only thing that moves: present í, past singular ei, past plural i, supine i.
| Principal parts | |
|---|---|
| Infinitive | að bíta |
| 1sg present | bít |
| 1sg past | beit |
| 3pl past | bitu |
| Supine | bitið |
| Person | Present (nútíð) | Past (þátíð) |
|---|---|---|
| ég | bít | beit |
| þú | bítur | beist |
| hann / hún / það | bítur | beit |
| við | bítum | bitum |
| þið | bítið | bituð |
| þeir / þær / þau | bíta | bitu |
| Person | Present subjunctive | Past subjunctive |
|---|---|---|
| ég | bíti | biti |
| þú | bítir | bitir |
| hann / hún / það | bíti | biti |
| við | bítum | bitum |
| þið | bítið | bituð |
| þeir / þær / þau | bíti | bitu |
| Non-finite & imperative | |
|---|---|
| Imperative (þú) | bíttu |
| Imperative (þið) | bítið! |
| Supine | bitið |
| Past participle (m/f/n) | bitinn / bitin / bitið |
| Present participle | bítandi |
| Middle voice (miðmynd) | bítast — "to bite each other" |
The vowel series í – ei – i – i
The whole of Class 1 is built on one alternation. The present keeps the infinitive's í: ég bít, hann bítur. The preterite singular becomes the diphthong ei: ég beit, hann beit. The preterite plural and the supine/participle drop to a short i: við bitum, þeir bitu, ég hef bitið, hann er bitinn. Here is the same skeleton across the class — note that only the consonants change:
| Verb | Present (í) | Past sg. (ei) | Past pl. (i) | Supine (i) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| bíta (bite) | bít | beit | bitu | bitið |
| skína (shine) | skín | skein | skinu | skinið |
| ríða (ride) | ríð | reið | riðu | riðið |
| líða (pass/feel) | líð | leið | liðu | liðið |
| stíga (step) | stíg | steig | stigu | stigið |
| grípa (grab) | gríp | greip | gripu | gripið |
Hundurinn hennar bítur aldrei, hann er ljúfur sem lamb.
Her dog never bites, he's gentle as a lamb. (present 'bítur')
Köttur beit mig í höndina þegar ég reyndi að klappa honum.
A cat bit me on the hand when I tried to pet it. (past singular 'beit')
The past: beit (sg.) vs bitu (pl.)
As with every strong verb, the preterite singular and plural differ — and here the gap is wide: ei in the singular, short i in the plural. "The mosquitoes bit me all night" needs the plural bitu, not beitu.
Mýflugurnar bitu mig alla nóttina.
The mosquitoes bit me all night. (past plural 'bitu')
The supine and participle: bitið / bitinn
The perfect uses bitið with hafa: hundurinn hefur bitið einhvern áður ("the dog has bitten someone before"). As an adjective, the participle declines fully — bitinn / bitin / bitið — so "a bitten apple" is bitið epli (neuter) and "I got bitten" can be phrased ég varð bitinn (masculine subject).
Ég er illa bitinn eftir gönguna í gær — fullt af mýi.
I'm badly bitten after yesterday's hike — loads of midges. (participle 'bitinn', masculine subject)
Object case: bíta + accusative
bíta is a plain transitive verb with an accusative object — bíta einhvern ("bite someone"). The body part bitten is also expressed with a preposition + the right case: bíta einhvern í höndina ("bite someone on the hand"), where í höndina is accusative (motion/affected target). This is the unmarked, predictable pattern; there is no quirky case to memorise here, which is part of why bíta is such a clean model verb.
Idiomatic bíta: bíta á jaxlinn, bíta frá sér
Beyond literal biting, bíta anchors a couple of very common idioms worth recognising. Bíta á jaxlinn (literally "bite on the molar") means "to grit one's teeth, tough it out" — exactly the English metaphor. Bíta frá sér ("bite away from oneself") means "to fight back, defend oneself." Both conjugate as ordinary bíta, so the same beit/bitu irregularity applies inside the idiom.
Hún beit á jaxlinn og kláraði hlaupið þrátt fyrir verkinn.
She gritted her teeth and finished the race despite the pain. (idiom 'bíta á jaxlinn', past 'beit')
The reciprocal middle: bítast
The -st form bítast is reciprocal: "to bite each other." It is common of animals fighting, and figuratively of people sniping at one another. The preterite follows the active stem plus -st: hundarnir bitust ("the dogs bit each other").
Hundarnir tveir bitust í garðinum þangað til við stoppuðum þá.
The two dogs bit each other in the garden until we stopped them. (reciprocal middle 'bitust')
Common Mistakes
❌ Hundurinn bítaði mig.
Incorrect — bíta is strong Class 1, not weak; there is no '-aði'. The past is 'beit'.
✅ Hundurinn beit mig.
The dog bit me.
❌ Flugurnar beitu mig.
Incorrect — the past PLURAL is short i: 'bitu', not 'beitu'.
✅ Flugurnar bitu mig.
The flies bit me.
❌ Ég hef beitið í eplið.
Incorrect — the supine has short i: 'bitið', not 'beitið'.
✅ Ég hef bitið í eplið.
I've taken a bite of the apple.
❌ Hann bítaði í vörina á sér af taugaóstyrk.
Incorrect — regularised again; the past of bíta is 'beit'.
✅ Hann beit í vörina á sér af taugaóstyrk.
He bit his lip nervously.
Key Takeaways
- bít / bítur (present), beit / beit / bitum / bitu (past), bitið (supine), bitinn (participle) — the model strong Class-1 verb.
- The class-defining series is í – ei – i – i; learn it on bíta and it transfers directly to skína, ríða, líða, stíga, grípa and the rest of Class 1.
- Watch the past plural short i (bitu, not beitu) and the supine short i (bitið, not beitið).
- Object is plain accusative (bíta einhvern í höndina); the reciprocal middle bítast = "bite each other."
- Auxiliary is hafa: ég hef bitið.
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Start learning Icelandic→Related Topics
- Strong Verb Classes 1-3B1 — The first three ablaut classes of Icelandic strong verbs and their vowel series: Class 1 (í–ei–i–i: bíta → beit, bitu, bitið), Class 2 (jó/jú–au–u–o: bjóða → bauð, buðu, boðið), and Class 3 (e/i–a–u–o: verða → varð, urðu, orðið; finna → fann, fundu) — including some of the highest-frequency verbs in the language.
- Strong Verb Class Reference KeyB1 — A navigation hub for the seven Icelandic strong-verb ablaut classes — each with its vowel series (infinitive – preterite singular – preterite plural – supine) and 2–3 exemplar verbs — so that knowing a verb's class lets you predict its whole paradigm. Turns ~150 strong verbs into seven patterns plus exceptions.
- skína (to shine)B2 — Full conjugation of the strong Class-1 verb skína (skín / skein / skinu / skinið), the í–ei–i–i series shared with bíta and líta, used for the sun, the moon, and any source of light — intransitive, with no object.
- Strong Verbs and Ablaut: OverviewA2 — The strong verb system: verbs that build the past by changing their stem vowel (ablaut) instead of adding an ending, with FOUR principal parts — infinitive, preterite singular, preterite plural, supine — and the crucial split where the past singular and past plural can carry different vowels (fann vs fundu).