bita means "to bite," and it is a textbook strong verb of the i–e–i class — exactly the pattern of skriva–skrev–skrivit. Its English cognate hands you the whole conjugation: bita–bet–bitit is bite–bit–bitten, with the e in the past and the i coming back in the supine. Beyond the literal verb, bita shows up in two everyday places: the bli-passive "to be bitten by" (bli biten av), and the idiom bita ihop ("grit your teeth, tough it out").
Principal parts
| Infinitive | Present | Preteritum (past) | Supine | Imperative | Group |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| bita | biter | bet | bitit | bit | strong, i–e–i |
The vowel runs i → e → i: infinitive and present keep i (bita, biter), the past collapses to a short bet with e, and the supine returns to i in bitit — used after ha for the perfect (har bitit). The past participle is biten (and it inflects: biten / bitet / bitna), which is the form you need for the bli-passive below. The imperative is bit (Bit inte på pennan!, "Don't bite the pen!").
Hunden biter aldrig, den bara skäller.
The dog never bites, it just barks. biter — present, vowel i.
Myggan bet mig mitt på näsan.
The mosquito bit me right on the nose. bet — strong past, vowel e, no -ade.
Jag har bitit mig i tungan tre gånger idag.
I've bitten my tongue three times today. har bitit — perfect, supine vowel back to i.
Use 1: the literal verb
In its plain sense bita covers biting with teeth — animals, insects, people, and biting into food. Note that "to bite into something" is bita i (with the preposition i): bita i äpplet, "bite into the apple."
Bit i kanten först, så ser du om det är moget.
Bite into the edge first, then you'll see if it's ripe. bita i — bite into; imperative bit.
Katten bet honom i handen när han försökte klappa den.
The cat bit him on the hand when he tried to pet it. bet ... i handen — Swedish marks the body part with i.
Use 2: the bli-passive — "be bitten by"
To say someone "was bitten by" an animal, Swedish uses the bli-passive: bli + the past participle biten, with the agent introduced by av ("by"). This describes the event of being bitten (something happening to you), as opposed to a static state.
Han blev biten av en hund när han var liten.
He was bitten by a dog when he was little. blev biten av — bli-passive, agent with av.
Bli inte biten av myggorna — ta på dig myggmedel!
Don't get bitten by the mosquitoes — put on some repellent! bli biten av in the imperative/warning.
Två personer har blivit bitna av ormar i sommar.
Two people have been bitten by snakes this summer. plural agreement: bitna for a plural subject.
Notice the participle agrees: biten (one en-word), bitet (one ett-word), bitna (plural). That agreement is what distinguishes the bli-passive participle from the unchanging supine bitit.
Use 3: bita ihop — "grit your teeth, tough it out"
The idiom bita ihop (literally "bite together") means to push through something painful or unpleasant without complaining — the same image as English "grit your teeth." It is everyday and very common.
Det gör ont, men bit ihop — vi är nästan framme.
It hurts, but grit your teeth — we're almost there. bit ihop, imperative.
Hon bet ihop och sprang det sista varvet.
She gritted her teeth and ran the last lap. bet ihop — past.
A close cousin is bita i det sura äpplet ("bite the sour apple"), Swedish's equivalent of "bite the bullet": Vi får bita i det sura äpplet och betala räkningen.
Common Mistakes
❌ Hunden bitade honom.
Incorrect — bita is strong, no -ade. The regularisation trap: the past is bet, not *bitade.
✅ Hunden bet honom.
The dog bit him. Strong past: bet (e).
❌ Jag har bet mig i läppen.
Incorrect — bet is the PAST; after har you need the supine bitit.
✅ Jag har bitit mig i läppen.
I've bitten my lip. Supine vowel back to i: bitit.
❌ Han blev bitit av en hund.
Incorrect — the bli-passive needs the PARTICIPLE biten (which agrees), not the supine bitit.
✅ Han blev biten av en hund.
He was bitten by a dog. Participle biten in the bli-passive.
❌ Jag blev biten från en mygga.
Incorrect — the agent of the passive takes av ('by'), not från ('from').
✅ Jag blev biten av en mygga.
I was bitten by a mosquito. av marks the agent.
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Start learning Swedish→Related Topics
- Index of Strong Verbs by PatternB1 — A navigable index of the common Swedish strong verbs, grouped by ablaut pattern rather than alphabetically — i–e–i (skriva/skrev/skrivit), i–a–u (dricka/drack/druckit), a–o–a (ta/tog/tagit), and the irregular/contracted set (gå/gick/gått). Each group is a four-part table of principal parts with English cognate hints, because organising strong verbs by shared vowel pattern turns a scary list into a few learnable families.
- Strong Pattern: i – e – i (skriva, bita)B1 — The cleanest strong class: infinitive i, past e, supine back to i — skriva/skrev/skrivit, bita/bet/bitit, gripa/grep/gripit, stiga/steg/stigit, rida/red/ridit, skina/sken/skinit. This is the same family as English write/wrote/written and bite/bit/bitten, so the cognate intuition transfers with only a vowel adjustment. The trap is regularising (*skrivade) or using the wrong supine vowel.
- The bli-PassiveB1 — The periphrastic bli-passive — bli + an agreeing past participle (Han blev vald; Bilen blev stulen) — marks a DYNAMIC event or change of state ('got/became X-ed'). It takes the agent with av (biten av en hund). Because it mirrors English 'be/get + participle' it gets overused: for habitual or general statements the -s passive is the idiomatic choice.