Breakdown of Besuchst du heute meinen Bruder?
du
you (informal singular)
heute
today
besuchen
to visit
der Bruder
the brother
Questions & Answers about Besuchst du heute meinen Bruder?
Why is it meinen Bruder instead of just mein Bruder?
Bruder (brother) is a masculine noun, and in this sentence, he is the direct object—the person being visited. In German, when a masculine noun is the direct object, it takes the accusative case. For "my", that means mein adds an "-en" ending to become meinen.
Why does heute (today) come before meinen Bruder?
In English, we usually put time words like "today" at the very end of a sentence. In German, words that tell us "when" something happens usually step in right after the verb and the subject. That is why heute is placed before the object (meinen Bruder).
The English translation says "Are you visiting", but I don't see a word for "are" in the German sentence. Why?
German does not have a separate "-ing" tense (present continuous) like English does. The single German verb besuchst covers both "you visit" and "you are visiting". You never translate the "are" separately when forming this kind of sentence in German!
Why does the sentence start with the verb Besuchst?
To ask a simple "yes/no" question in German, you just move the verb to the very front of the sentence. The regular statement "You are visiting..." is Du besuchst.... By swapping the verb and the subject to Besuchst du..., it instantly becomes a question.