Heiße

Heiße is a German word with more than one common grammatical function. It most often appears as a form of the verb heißen, which means “to be called” or “to be named.” In present tense it appears as ich heiße, du heißt, er heißt, etc. The form ich heiße is also used in indirect speech (Konjunktiv I), for example: Er sagte, er heiße Maria. In everyday speech the infinitive form is used for introductions and names, such as “Ich heiße Anna.”

Heiße also functions as an inflected form of the adjective heiß, meaning “hot.” When used before a feminine singular noun, the form heiße is the standard ending in the nominative and accusative cases, as in die heiße Suppe or eine heiße Tasse Kaffee. It also appears in the plural for feminine or mixed-gender nouns (heiße Getränke, heiße Suppen). The spelling with the ß (ich heiße) reflects German orthography rules after a long vowel sound; the adjective form in standard writing uses no capitalization and follows the normal adjective endings for gender, number, and case.

Pronunciation for both uses is similar, with the diphthong ei rendered as [aɪ̯], and the final -e typically pronounced as a schwa [ə] in the spoken form of the verb or as the expected ending in the adjective form, depending on context.

Usage notes: as a verb, heißen is among the everyday verbs used to introduce oneself or others; as an adjective, heiß is a common descriptive term for temperature or intensity. The two forms share a common root in German and appear in related phrases across contexts, from personal introductions to descriptions of food and objects.