Breakdown of Hatten Sie gestern Besuch?
Sie
you (formal)
haben
to have
der Besuch
the visit / the visitors
gestern
yesterday
Questions & Answers about Hatten Sie gestern Besuch?
Why does the sentence start with Hatten instead of a word like "did"?
In English, we use "did" to make a past-tense question, like "Did you have...?". German doesn't use "did" as a helper word. Instead, the verb itself changes to the past tense and moves to the front. Hatten is the simple past form of haben, so starting the sentence with it perfectly translates to "Did you have?".
Is Hatten only used for the formal Sie?
Hatten is the form used for the formal Sie (you), but it is also used for wir (we) and the plural sie (they). Because Sie is capitalized in the middle of this sentence, we know it means the formal "you" rather than "they".
Besuch is singular, so why is it translated as "visitors"?
The noun Besuch literally means "a visit". However, Germans commonly use this singular word to mean "visitors" or "company". The phrase Besuch haben is the most natural, everyday way to say you have guests over, no matter how many people are visiting.
Why does gestern come before Besuch?
In German, words telling us "when" something happens (like gestern, meaning yesterday) usually come very early in the sentence. In a question, the time word almost always comes right after the verb and the subject (Hatten Sie). English prefers putting "yesterday" at the very end, but German likes it up front!