bid
Base form
bid
/bɪd/
Past simple
bade / bid
/beɪd/ /bɪd/
Past participle
bidden / bid
/ˈbɪdn/ /bɪd/
MeaningB2
to say hello or goodbye to someone (formal); to tell someone to do something
to bid someone farewell
In use
- Question · Form 1Shall we bid our hosts good night and go home?
- Negative · Form 1Don’t bid more than you can afford.
- Past simple · Form 2Before he left, the old man bade us all good night.
- Past simple · Form 2In the story, the queen bade the knight kneel before her.
- Passive · Form 3We were bidden to enter the great hall.
- Past perfect · Form 3She had bidden him farewell at the gate an hour before.
Watch out
Bade (/beɪd/ or /bæd/) and bidden are formal or literary: she bade him farewell. At an auction bid never changes. Bidded and baden are wrong.
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