BITE Basic Verbs Learn English Grammar
hi everybody welcome back to know your
verbs my name is Alicia and in this
episode we’re going to talk about the
verb bite let’s get started
let’s talk about the basic definition of
the verb right it means to use your
teeth to cut or tear or something
examples I hate it when I bite my tongue
you shouldn’t bite your nails let’s look
at the conjugations for this verb
present bite bites past bit past
participle bit progressive biting
let’s talk about some additional
meanings for this verb the first one is
one that we use when we go fishing which
means for fish to eat bait we use the
verb bite for this examples the fish
aren’t biting today I think something
bit my lure so bite refers to fish
eating bait so baits meaning edible
things or lure as in the second example
sentence kind of a shiny metal or
plastic object that attracts fish it
looks like food but there are hooks in
it yeah so we use bite to talk about the
fish trying to eat that thing or
actually swallowing that thing so the
reason I introduced that we’ll talk
about with the second additional meaning
for this firm so this leads into the
second additional meaning for this verb
the second additional meaning for this
verb is to show interest in something to
show interest in something examples
alright I’ll bite
what’s the secret the new clients didn’t
bite on the deal so here a bite means
show interest so the reason that I
introduced this as the second meaning
after the fish bait eating introduction
is because we can imagine that when
we’re showing our interest in something
it’s similar to the way fish bite a lure
fish tried to bite food so when we’re
interested in some information like a
secret as in the first example or a
special deal as in the second example we
want to bite it we want to get that
thing so this means to show interest yes
but it means we’re kind of going after
we’re trying to chase that thing so we
can get it and enjoy it perhaps so two
bites can mean to show interest in
something the third additional meaning
for this verb is to be bad or to be
unappealing examples this lunch bites
your boss bites so here we’re using
bites in the first example your lunch
bites it doesn’t mean your lunch like a
sandwich physically bites you it means
your lunch is not very good your lunch
is bad your lunch is unappealing in the
second example your boss bites it
doesn’t mean your boss is a person who
bites people it means your boss is bad
your boss is not a good person your boss
not a good boss for example this is a
slang term that means not good
unappealing however the fourth
additional meaning for this verb is to
have a habit of biting so someone or
something that has a habit of biting
things we can use the verb bite to talk
about that examples watch out for that
dog he bites careful
I heard that kid bites generally this
use of the verb bite is used for animals
and for kids so in other words creatures
or small people who have not yet learned
or don’t know that it’s wrong to bite
someone so this is not used for adults
so you probably won’t confuse this
meaning with meaning number three of
like your boss bites because your boss
as an adult has learned not to bite
people so this is probably only going to
be used with animals and maybe kids so
people or creatures who don’t know
let’s move along to some variations of
this verb the first one is to come back
to bite somebody to come back to bite
somebody
this refers to a problem that if not
handled now could cause a bigger problem
in the future
examples I didn’t put gas in the car
yesterday I hope that doesn’t come back
to bite me she didn’t stay updated on
the project progress and it came back to
bite er so these examples refer to a
problem that’s not properly handled at
the right time in the first example
sentence a person did not put gas in his
or her car yesterday so the idea is that
perhaps they’re going to run out of gas
in the future they should have put gas
in the car yesterday but they did not
they should have and it might cause a
bigger problem in the future in the
second example sentence it’s a past
tense situation a person the she in the
situation did not stay updated on the
project progress and thus there was a
negative effect in the future because
she did not properly handle the
situation so for something to come back
and bite you means you didn’t take care
at the present time and in the future it
caused a bigger problem so be careful of
this one let’s go on to the second
variation which is to bite someone’s
head off this is quite a strange
expression but to bite someone’s head
off means usually too quickly and
angrily say something and it can often
be for something very very small not
necessarily for a huge problem but maybe
just a quick show of anger sometimes
over a small point examples my mom bit
my head off for coming home ten minutes
late last night he made one small
mistake you don’t have to bite his head
off
so of course this doesn’t literally mean
biting someone’s head off of their body
but it just means making a really quick
and angry comment or series of comments
to somebody because of something small
usually in the first example sentence
it’s a ten minute delay so one person is
ten minutes late getting home and the
speaker’s mother bit his or her head off
meaning was very angry at them for a
short period of time for that mistake in
the second example sentence he made one
small mistake you
don’t have to bite his head off that
means that you don’t need to be so angry
at this person for a small mistake
so to bite someone’s head off is a quick
show of anger refers to that the third
variation is to bite the bullet to bite
the bullet refers to doing something
that you don’t want to do but maybe
you’re forced to do it or it’s really
not appealing you don’t want to do it
but you decide you have to or there’s
some other reason that you’re pushed to
do it you bite the bullet and do it
so examples I think I have to bite the
bullet and take the boring day job we
bit the bullet and applied for a
mortgage so these are maybe examples of
things the speakers don’t want to do but
they decide they need to do for some
reason or they’re forced to do for some
reason so those are a few new ways I
hope that you can use the verb bite
there are quite a few interesting
meanings to this verb for sure of course
if you know a different meaning if you
want to try to make an example sentence
or if you have any questions please let
us know in the comment section of this
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for other good stuff too thanks very
much for watching this episode of know
your verbs and we’ll see you again next
time bye bye time to bite let’s bite
hopefully most adults know that we
should not use we should not use our
teeth on people unless you’re a cannibal
so perhaps there are some exceptions to
this rule all right ohm but let’s think
it’s fish fish is the secret to my
special scent what what what you didn’t
hear anything yeah verbs are fun okay