besuchen — German conjugation
to visit, to see
Indicative
Present (Präsens) Regular
Präsens is the default present for facts, habits, and near-future plans. German has no continuous aspect in the same way as English, so a single form often covers both “I work” and “I am working” when you add a time adverb or context.
Ich arbeite heute im Homeoffice.
| Pronoun | German | English |
|---|---|---|
| ich | besuche | I visit |
| du | besuchst | you visit |
| er/sie/es | besucht | he/she/it visits |
| wir | besuchen | we visit |
| ihr | besucht | you (pl.) visit |
| sie/Sie | besuchen | they visit |
Simple past (Präteritum) Regular
Präteritum is a narrative past, common in print and in northern speech, while southern speakers lean on the perfect in conversation. sein and haben keep their Präteritum even when you otherwise avoid the preterite.
Er war müde, aber er hatte keinen Kaffee mehr.
| Pronoun | German | English |
|---|---|---|
| ich | besuchte | I visited |
| du | besuchtest | you visited |
| er/sie/es | besuchte | he/she/it visited |
| wir | besuchten | we visited |
| ihr | besuchtet | you (pl.) visited |
| sie/Sie | besuchten | they visited |
Present perfect (Perfekt) Regular
The Perfekt is the everyday past for finished events: auxiliary haben or sein plus participle, with sein for most motion, coming/going, and some change-of-state verbs.
Wir sind rechtzeitig angekommen und haben gefeiert.
| Pronoun | German | English |
|---|---|---|
| ich | habe besucht | I have visited |
| du | hast besucht | you have visited |
| er/sie/es | hat besucht | he/she/it has visited |
| wir | haben besucht | we have visited |
| ihr | habt besucht | you (pl.) have visited |
| sie/Sie | haben besucht | they have visited |
Pluperfect (Plusquamperfekt) Regular
The Plusquamperfekt is the pluperfect: it marks what had already completed before a later past episode in the same narrative.
Sie war schon gegangen, bevor er ankam.
| Pronoun | German | English |
|---|---|---|
| ich | hatte besucht | I had visited |
| du | hattest besucht | you had visited |
| er/sie/es | hatte besucht | he/she/it had visited |
| wir | hatten besucht | we had visited |
| ihr | hattet besucht | you (pl.) had visited |
| sie/Sie | hatten besucht | they had visited |
Future I (Futur I) Regular
Futur I is for predictions, firm promises, and also probability about the present in colloquial German. Everyday speech very often uses Präsens plus a time expression instead.
Morgen schneit es, sagt der Wetterbericht.
| Pronoun | German | English |
|---|---|---|
| ich | werde besuchen | I will visit |
| du | wirst besuchen | you will visit |
| er/sie/es | wird besuchen | he/she/it will visit |
| wir | werden besuchen | we will visit |
| ihr | werdet besuchen | you (pl.) will visit |
| sie/Sie | werden besuchen | they will visit |
Future II (Futur II) Regular
Futur II (werden + participle + haben/sein) names an action that will be completed before a later time, and can also express a guess that something must already have happened.
Bis Freitag werde ich alles gepackt haben.
| Pronoun | German | English |
|---|---|---|
| ich | werde besucht haben | I will have visited |
| du | wirst besucht haben | you will have visited |
| er/sie/es | wird besucht haben | he/she/it will have visited |
| wir | werden besucht haben | we will have visited |
| ihr | werdet besucht haben | you (pl.) will have visited |
| sie/Sie | werden besucht haben | they will have visited |
Subjunctive
Subjunctive II (Konjunktiv II) Regular
Konjunktiv II is the mood for politeness, contrary-to-fact if-clauses, and reported views. In speech, würde + infinitive often stands in for rarer preterit-based forms.
Könnten Sie mir bitte helfen?
| Pronoun | German |
|---|---|
| ich | besuchte |
| du | besuchtest |
| er/sie/es | besuchte |
| wir | besuchten |
| ihr | besuchtet |
| sie/Sie | besuchten |
Other forms
Imperative (Imperativ) Regular
The imperative uses the du, ihr, and Sie forms of command; the informal du form drops the -st of the present for many strong verbs, and separable-prefix verbs place the prefix at the end.
Mach bitte schnell, der Zug fährt gleich ab.
| Pronoun | German |
|---|---|
| du | besuche |
| ihr | besucht |