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bitten: to ask for — meaning and examples | JadoLearn

Dictionarybitten

Quality-approved learning entryVerbLevel A1

bitten

to ask for

to ask someone politely for help, information, or permission

IPA/ˈbɪtən/

The first syllable bit carries the main stress.

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bitten: to ask for

Meaning 1neutral · 86%

to ask someone politely for help, information, or permission

Natural examples

Ich bitte meine Kollegin um Hilfe.

Darf ich Sie um eine Erklärung bitten?

Er hat seinen Bruder um Geld gebeten.

Usage note

Fragen asks a question; bitten asks for something politely.

Useful combinations

um Hilfe bitten — to ask for help — to ask someone for forgiveness

jemanden um Entschuldigung bitten

Common mistake

Ich bitte meiner Kollegin um Hilfe.

Ich bitte meine Kollegin um Hilfe.

The person asked is accusative: meine Kollegin.

Mini-lesson: Person Plus um

Use bitten with accusative person and um + accusative thing: meine Kollegin um Hilfe bitten.

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Form and grammar

infinitive: bitten
third person present: bittet
preterite: bat
Past participle: gebeten
auxiliary: haben
Separable: No
prefix: —
reflexive: No
modal: No
imperative du: Bitte!
imperative ihr: Bittet!
imperative sie: Bitten Sie!
Transitivity: transitive
valency patterns: jemanden (Akk.) um + Akk. bitten · jemanden (Akk.) bitten, zu + Infinitiv

Bitten means asking someone politely for something. The person is accusative; the requested thing follows um + accusative.

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Ersuchen bitte Entschuldigung fragen

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