bisschen

See also: Bisschen and bißchen

German

Alternative forms

• bißchen (pre-1996 spelling)
• bissel, bissl (colloquial in southern and eastern Germany)
• büschen, bissken (see pronunciation section)

Etymology

Adverbialized noun Bisschen, from Bissen (“a bit, bite”) +‎ -chen (“diminutive”)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈbɪsçən/

• Audio

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɪsçən
• (casual) IPA^(key): /ˈbɪsjən/, /ˈbɪsən/
• (colloquial in Westphalia, may be spelt bissken) IPA^(key): /ˈbɪskən/
• (colloquial in northern Germany, may be spelt büschen) IPA^(key): /ˈbʏʃən/, /ˈbʏʒən/

Adverb

bisschen

1. (often with ein) (a) bit; (a) little

   Er spricht nur ein bisschen Englisch. ― He only speaks a little English.

   • 1982, “Ein bißchen Frieden”, Bernd Meinunger (lyrics), Ralph Siegel (music), performed by Nicole:

     Ein bißchen Frieden, ein bißchen Sonne / Für diese Erde, auf der wir wohnen / Ein bißchen Frieden, ein bißchen Freude / Ein bißchen Wärme, das wünsch' ich mir

     A little peace, a little sun / For this Earth we live on / A little peace, a little joy / A little warmth, that's what I wish for

   • 1999, “Das Bisschen Besser”, in Wo ist hier, performed by Die Sterne:

     Es hat keinen Sinn zu warten bis es besser wird / Das bisschen besser wär das warten nicht wert

     It makes no sense to wait for things to get better / That little bit better isn't worth the wait

2. (with kein) (not a) bit

Usage notes

• The word ein is rarely omitted in formal style, but is usually undeclined: mit ein bisschen Geduld, rather than the rarer mit einem bisschen Geduld (“with a bit of patience”). Compare the same in ein paar (where declension is even nonstandard). In vernacular German, ein is reduced to 'n or simply left out. The latter is particularly common when bisschen modifies an adjective or adverb: bisschen schneller (“a bit faster”).
• The adjective klein (“little”) is often undeclined before bisschen, thus ein klein bisschen alongside ein kleines bisschen. The latter is preferred in formal style, but both are standard.
• The spelling bisschen has been the prescribed spelling since the German spelling reform of 1996 (the Rechtschreibreform). In Switzerland and Liechtenstein, it had already been standard since ⟨ß⟩ was deprecated in the 1930s. In the affected areas, the previous spelling (bißchen) is now less common, and may be regarded as a misspelling.

Further reading

• “bisschen” in Duden online
• “bisschen” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache