Besuchen: Examples, Sentences and Quiz in German

Introduction

Besuchen means “to visit”, and it is one of the most useful verbs in German — you will meet it in conversation, in books, in films and in every textbook. This page puts the verb to work: twelve example sentences across the tenses, a short dialogue you can act out, a tour of the verb in its most important tenses, the mistakes learners make most often, and a ten-question quiz with explained answers. Every form on this page comes from the verified conjugation tables for besuchen, so you can trust what you read here. Start with the examples, say them aloud, and then test yourself with the quiz at the end.

Example sentences

Twelve sentences with besuchen, in different tenses and with different subjects. Read the German first, guess the meaning, then check the English.

  1. “Ich besuche meine Oma in Berlin jeden Tag.” — “I visit my grandma in Berlin every day.”
  2. “Du besuchst meine Freunde in Hamburg jeden Tag.” — “You visit my friends in Hamburg every day.”
  3. “Ich habe das Museum in München besucht gestern.” — “I have visited the museum in Munich yesterday.”
  4. “Er besuchte meine Oma in Berlin gestern.” — “He visited my grandma in Berlin yesterday.”
  5. “Wir werden meine Freunde in Hamburg besuchen morgen.” — “We will visit my friends in Hamburg tomorrow.”
  6. “Du hast das Museum in München besucht gestern.” — “You have visited the museum in Munich yesterday.”
  7. “Ich besuchte meine Oma in Berlin eines Tages.” — “I would visit my grandma in Berlin one day.”
  8. “Es ist wichtig, dass er besuche meine Freunde in Hamburg.” — “It is important that he visit my friends in Hamburg.”
  9. “Wir hatten das Museum in München besucht vor der Party.” — “We had visited the museum in Munich before the party.”
  10. “Er wird meine Oma in Berlin besuchen morgen.” — “He will visit my grandma in Berlin tomorrow.”
  11. “Sie besuchen meine Freunde in Hamburg jeden Tag.” — “They visit my friends in Hamburg every day.”
  12. “Besuch das Museum in München!” — “Visit the museum in Munich!”

A short dialogue

Lena and Jonas are talking about my grandma in Berlin. Read the dialogue aloud, one voice per person, and notice how besuchen changes with the tense and the subject. Every form of besuchen below is taken from the verified tables.

Lena: “Du besuchst meine Oma in Berlin jeden Tag.” — “You visit my grandma in Berlin every day.” Jonas: “Ich besuche meine Oma in Berlin jeden Tag.” — “I visit my grandma in Berlin every day.” Lena: “Du wirst meine Freunde in Hamburg besuchen morgen.” — “You will visit my friends in Hamburg tomorrow.” Jonas: “Ich werde meine Freunde in Hamburg besuchen morgen.” — “I will visit my friends in Hamburg tomorrow.” Lena: “Du hast das Museum in München besucht gestern.” — “You have visited the museum in Munich yesterday.” Jonas: “Ich habe das Museum in München besucht gestern.” — “I have visited the museum in Munich yesterday.” Lena: “Du besuchtest meine Oma in Berlin eines Tages.” — “You would visit my grandma in Berlin one day.” Jonas: “Ich besuchte meine Oma in Berlin eines Tages.” — “I would visit my grandma in Berlin one day.”

Notice how the dialogue moves through time: the present for what is happening now, the future for tomorrow, the Perfekt for yesterday, and Konjunktiv II for what someone would do one day. The verb stays the same — only the tense changes — and that is the whole point of learning a conjugation table: one verb, many moments.

Besuchen in different tenses

The same verb does different jobs in different tenses. Here are the six uses of besuchen that matter most, each with a sentence you can copy and adapt.

The present: habits and facts

In the present, besuchen describes habits, facts and what is happening now. The ich form is besuche: “Ich besuche meine Oma in Berlin jeden Tag.” — “I visit my grandma in Berlin every day.”

The preterite: the past in stories

In the preterite, besuchen describes a completed past action, mostly in writing and stories. The er form is besuchte: “Er besuchte meine Freunde in Hamburg gestern.” — “He visited my friends in Hamburg yesterday.”

The Perfekt: finished actions

In the Perfekt, besuchen reports one finished action, built with haben plus the participle besucht. The ich form is habe besucht: “Ich habe das Museum in München besucht gestern.” — “I have visited the museum in Munich yesterday.”

The future: what will happen

In the future, besuchen talks about what will happen. The wir form is werden besuchen: “Wir werden meine Oma in Berlin besuchen morgen.” — “We will visit my grandma in Berlin tomorrow.”

Konjunktiv II: what would happen

In Konjunktiv II, besuchen talks about what would happen. Konjunktiv II doubles as the conditional, and the periphrastic alternative with würde plus the infinitive expresses the same meaning. The du form is besuchtest: “Du besuchtest meine Freunde in Hamburg eines Tages.” — “You would visit my friends in Hamburg one day.”

Konjunktiv I: reported speech

In Konjunktiv I, besuchen appears in reported speech, after triggers such as es ist wichtig, dass. The form is besuche, and the sentence keeps the same complement as the other tenses: “Es ist wichtig, dass ich besuche das Museum in München.” — “It is important that I visit the museum in Munich.”

Common mistakes

Using the infinitive instead of a conjugated form

✗ Wrong: “Ich besuchen meine Oma in Berlin.”

✓ Right: “Ich besuche meine Oma in Berlin.”

The infinitive besuchen never takes a subject. After ich you need the conjugated form besuche.

Using the wrong person’s form

✗ Wrong: “Du besuche meine Oma in Berlin.”

✓ Right: “Du besuchst meine Oma in Berlin.”

besuche is the ich form. With du you need besuchst. Check the subject before you choose the form.

Using the present for a finished past action

✗ Wrong: “Ich besuche meine Oma in Berlin gestern.”

✓ Right: “Ich habe meine Oma in Berlin besucht gestern.”

The time word gestern points to the past, so a finished action needs the Perfekt habe besucht, not the present.

Using the indicative after a subjunctive trigger

✗ Wrong: “Es ist wichtig, dass du besuchst meine Freunde in Hamburg.”

✓ Right: “Es ist wichtig, dass du besuchest meine Freunde in Hamburg.”

After es ist wichtig, dass German needs Konjunktiv I: besuchest, not the indicative besuchst.

Forgetting the auxiliary in the Perfekt

✗ Wrong: “Ich besucht meine Oma in Berlin.”

✓ Right: “Ich habe meine Oma in Berlin besucht.”

The Perfekt of besuchen needs the auxiliary haben plus the participle besucht: the full ich form is habe besucht.

Quiz: test yourself

Ten questions on besuchen. Choose the right answer, then check the answer key below.

  1. What is the ich form of besuchen in the Present (Präsens)?

    • A) besuchen
    • B) besuche
    • C) besuchst
    • D) besucht

  2. What is the du form of besuchen in the Present (Präsens)?

    • A) besuche
    • B) besucht
    • C) besuchen
    • D) besuchst

  3. What is the er/sie/es form of besuchen in the Perfect (Perfekt)?

    • A) haben besucht
    • B) hat besucht
    • C) habe besucht
    • D) hast besucht

  4. What is the wir form of besuchen in the Preterite (Präteritum)?

    • A) besuchte
    • B) besuchtest
    • C) besuchtet
    • D) besuchten

  5. What is the du form of besuchen in the Future (Futur I)?

    • A) wird besuchen
    • B) werden besuchen
    • C) wirst besuchen
    • D) werde besuchen

  6. What is the ich form of besuchen in the Konjunktiv II?

    • A) besuchtet
    • B) besuchte
    • C) besuchtest
    • D) besuchten

  7. What is the er/sie/es form of besuchen in the Konjunktiv I?

    • A) besuchet
    • B) besuche
    • C) besuchest
    • D) besuchen

  8. What is the ich form of besuchen in the Pluperfect (Plusquamperfekt)?

    • A) hatte besucht
    • B) hattest besucht
    • C) hatten besucht
    • D) hattet besucht

  9. What is the past participle (Partizip II) of besuchen?

    • A) gewonnen
    • B) verloren
    • C) besucht
    • D) gekostet

  10. What does besuchen mean in English?

  • A) to win
  • B) to lose
  • C) to visit
  • D) to cost

Answer key

  1. B) besuche — the ich form of besuchen in the Present (Präsens) is besuche. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  2. D) besuchst — the du form of besuchen in the Present (Präsens) is besuchst. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  3. B) hat besucht — the er/sie/es form of besuchen in the Perfect (Perfekt) is hat besucht. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  4. D) besuchten — the wir form of besuchen in the Preterite (Präteritum) is besuchten. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  5. C) wirst besuchen — the du form of besuchen in the Future (Futur I) is wirst besuchen. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  6. B) besuchte — the ich form of besuchen in the Konjunktiv II is besuchte. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  7. B) besuche — the er/sie/es form of besuchen in the Konjunktiv I is besuche. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  8. A) hatte besucht — the ich form of besuchen in the Pluperfect (Plusquamperfekt) is hatte besucht. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  9. C) besucht — the past participle of besuchen is besucht. The other options are the participles of neighbouring verbs.
  10. C) to visit — besuchen means “to visit” in English. The other options are the meanings of neighbouring verbs.

Frequently asked questions

What does besuchen mean in English?

besuchen means “to visit”. It is a core everyday verb, so its present-tense forms are worth learning first.

Is besuchen regular or irregular?

besuchen is irregular in these tenses: present, preterite, past-participle, imperative. Partizip I is besuchend and Partizip II is besucht.

How do I practise besuchen every day?

Say one sentence with besuchen in the present, one in the Perfekt and one in the future every day, using the examples on this page as models — for example, “Ich besuche meine Oma in Berlin jeden Tag.”, “Ich habe meine Oma in Berlin besucht gestern.” and “Ich werde meine Oma in Berlin besuchen morgen.”. Then take the quiz again and check your answers against the key.

Pronunciation

Pronunciation is not listed on this page: the verified tables do not include IPA for besuchen, so no pronunciation is given rather than an invented one.

Related pages