What’s the difference between sting and bite?

This week we are looking at two words which are sometimes confused: sting and bite.

sting

Sting is usually a verb. Its past tense and past participle is stung.

If a creature such as a bee, wasp, or scorpion stings you, it pricks your skin and pushes poison into your body. Nettles can also sting you.

Bees do not normally sting without being provoked.

Felipe had been stung by a wasp.

Sting can also be used as a noun.

Remove the bee sting with tweezers.

bite

Don’t say that a mosquito or ant `stings’ you. You say that it bites you. The past tense and past participle of bite are bit and bitten. You also say that animals or reptiles bite you.

A mosquito landed on my arm and bit me.

An ant had bitten her on the foot.

In Britain you are very unlikely to get bitten by a snake.

Bite can also be used as a noun.

Any dog bite, no matter how small, needs immediate medical attention. 

Find out more in our English Usage article.

This blogpost is based on Collins COBUILD English Usage, written for learners of English. For more examples of English usage points, please visit:  https://grammar.collinsdictionary.com/english-usage.

All opinions expressed on this blog are those of the individual writers, and do not necessarily reflect the opinions or policies of Collins, or its parent company, HarperCollins.

Related Articles

Other Articles

Forming the passive in English

Passive verbs are made from a form of be + the past participle of a main verb. In the passive, the form of the auxiliary verb be indicates the tense. They sell cheap computer games here. Cheap computer games are sold here. They took him to the police station for questioning. He was taken to the police station for questioning. Some verbs are only… Read More

Irregular verbs in English

Irregular verbs are verbs that do not form the past simple tense and the past participle by adding -ed to the base form. There are three main groups of irregular verbs in English. In Group A, the base form, the past simple and the past participle are the same: The base form, e.g. put The… Read More

Regular verb forms in English

English verbs have up to five different forms. These are: the base form, e.g. pull the 3rd person singular, present simple tense, e.g. pulls the past simple tense, e.g. pulled the past participle, e.g. pulled the present participle, e.g. pulling Regular verbs are all formed in the same way, by building… Read More