besagen

Besagen is a German verb meaning to state, indicate, or signify the content of a statement or document. It belongs to inseparable prefix verbs with be-; the base is sagen (to say). In modern German, besagen is mainly used in formal, written language to report what a source or finding asserts. It takes a clause introduced by dass: Der Bericht besagt, dass die Kosten gestiegen sind. It can also govern a noun clause, for example: Die Ergebnisse besagen eine Korrelation zwischen X und Y. The verb is used similarly to sagen or behaupten, but with a stronger sense that the content is asserted by the source rather than by the speaker.

The perfect tense is formed with haben: Der Bericht hat besagt, dass... The simple past is besagte. The past participle is besagt, which can be confusing because besagt also functions as an adjective meaning “stated,” as in eine besagte Regel. In practice, many speakers prefer zeigen or zeigen, dass to convey results in everyday usage.

In usage notes, besagen often appears in academic, legal, or journalistic contexts to report explicit content of documents, studies, or statements. Related verbs include sagen (to say), behaupten (to claim), and aussagen (to state).