Visiting and Hosting

Although perhaps less so this year, December is often a month of visiting and hosting. As the year comes to an end, let's have a look at some vocabulary related to spending time with loved ones.

You likely know the German verb besuchen ("to visit"). The noun der Besuch can mean "the visit," but also means "the visitor"/"the visitors." You can also say der Gastgeber / die Gastgeberin for "the host" and der Gast / die Gäste for "the guest"/"the guests."

Nun muss ich nur noch auf meinen Besuch warten.

Now I just have to wait for my visitors.

Caption 38, Apfelkuchen: mit Eva
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Ich bekomme heute nämlich Besuch, Günther.

I am getting a visitor today, Günther.

Caption 14, Nicos Weg: Lebensmittel
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Warum dauert denn das alles ewig? Die Gäste sind schon da.

Why is everything taking forever then? The guests are already here.

Caption 1, Marga Engel schlägt zurück: Arbeiten für den Feind
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When it comes to actually staying with someone, two more advanced verbs to know are unterbringen and unterkommen.

Ach, er ist ein Austauschschüler, der vorübergehend eine Unterkunft braucht.

Oh, he is an exchange student who needs a place to stay for a while.

Caption 17, Küss mich, Frosch: Die Zeiten haben sich geändert
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Wir hätten noch kurzfristig Möglichkeiten, dich unterzubringen...

We would have the last minute possibility of housing you...

Caption 14, Lilly unter den Linden: Umzug in die DDR
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However, to talk about someone staying with you or staying with someone, it's perhaps more common to simply use wohnen paired with bei:

Ich bin zu Besuch in Berlin und wohne bei meinen zwei Freundinnen.

I'm visiting Berlin and staying with my two friends.

Caption 2, Die Wohngemeinschaft: Probleme
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Of course, it all starts with an invitation:

Da hat man sich Gäste zum Essen eingeladen

You have invited guests to dinner

Caption 1, Das perfekte Dinner: Kochen für Gäste
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Further Learning
In addition to checking out our recent holiday content on Yabla German, create five to ten sentences about this December. Who did you visit? Who visited you? Who will you visit for New Year's Eve? This is a great opportunity to practice building sentences in a number of tenses.