B2 · 40 Wörter

Insects and small creatures

What buzzes, crawls and stings — and the difference between a bee, a wasp and a hornet in German.

Three words that English happily blurs are kept apart here, and the difference matters at a summer table: die Biene makes honey and is protected, die Wespe is the one at the cake, and die Hornisse is the large one nobody may disturb. German also distinguishes the sting from the bite — an insect sticht, it does not bite, so a mosquito leaves einen Stich and never einen Biss.

Die Wörter

Verb (4)

stechento sting, to bite (of insects)VerbB1

Mücken stechen abends am Wasser.Mosquitoes bite by the water in the evening.

Strong verb: sticht, stach, gestochen.

summento buzz, to humVerbB2

Im Lavendel summt es den ganzen Nachmittag.The lavender hums all afternoon.

Often used impersonally, as here.

schlüpfento hatchVerbB2

Die Jungen schlüpfen nach zwölf Tagen.The young hatch after twelve days.

The same verb also means to slip into clothes.

bestäubento pollinateVerbC1

Wildbienen bestäuben mehr als Honigbienen.Wild bees pollinate more than honeybees do.

The same verb also means to dust with sugar.

Diese Liste gehört zu Nature, weather and living things — zwölf Listen und 480 Wörter, die sich auch am Stück abfragen lassen.

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