to give gifts to
Loading your saved state.
to give gifts to
To give one or more gifts to a person, often on a special occasion. It emphasizes the act of giving and the joy one wants to bring someone.
Zu Weihnachten werden die Kinder reichlich beschenkt.
At Christmas, the children are given plenty of gifts.
The prefix 'be-' changes the sentence structure. Unlike with 'schenken' (to give someone something as a gift), the person who receives the gifts becomes the direct accusative object with 'beschenken' (to give gifts to).
Meine Tante hat mich reichlich beschenkt.
My aunt gave me plenty of gifts.
If you want to name the gift itself, use the preposition 'mit' followed by the dative. The structure is: give gifts to someone (accusative) with something (dative).
Er beschenkte seine Frau mit einer wunderschönen Kette.
He gave his wife a beautiful necklace as a gift.
The verb 'beschenken' is very often used in the passive to express that someone receives gifts. In this structure, the person receiving the gifts is the subject.
An seinem Geburtstag wurde er von allen mit Glückwünschen beschenkt.
On his birthday, he was showered with congratulations from everyone.
to surprise
'überraschen' and 'beschenken' can both mean that you make someone happy. The difference lies in the focus: 'beschenken' means that you give a person a gift. 'überraschen' emphasizes that something happens unexpectedly. That can be a gift, but it does not have to be. So you can surprise someone with a gift, but not every surprise is a gift. The words can be especially easy to confuse at birthdays or celebrations: if the act of giving is important, 'beschenken' fits better; if the unexpected element is important, 'überraschen' fits better.
Zum Geburtstag beschenken die Kinder ihre Mutter mit Blumen und einem Fotoalbum.
For her birthday, the children give their mother flowers and a photo album.
Am Abend habe ich meine Familie mit einem selbst gemachten Video überrascht.
In the evening, I surprised my family with a homemade video.