machte
The English phrase "did" is translated into German as machte.
machte is the past tense form of the verb machen, used to describe the performance of an action or activity.
Which one should you use?
While machte is the simple past form, in spoken German, people more commonly use the perfect tense hat gemacht to express "did" or "has done".
How does it change in a sentence?
The verb machen (to do/make) is conjugated in the past tense (Präteritum) as machte for the first and third person singular, and machten for the plural. Other past tense forms include machtest and machtet.
What mistakes should you avoid?
English speakers often confuse machen with tun. While tun is a direct translation of "do", machen is much more common for specific actions or activities in German.
Did you know?
- Unlike English, where 'did' is used as an auxiliary verb to form questions like 'Did you go?', German uses the main verb and does not use machte or machen for this purpose.
- The phrase Mach's gut! is a common way to say 'take care' when saying goodbye, using the imperative form of the verb machen.
- In German, the verb machen is frequently used in idiomatic expressions to describe physical states, such as das macht Kopfschmerzen, meaning 'that causes a headache'.
Examples in context
- Er machte es zum Spaß.He did it for fun.This sentence is useful for showing how to express doing something for fun using machte.Tatoeba #450493 by al_ex_an_der, translation #304145 by CK
- Ich machte das langsam.I did that slowly.This sentence is useful for describing an action done slowly using machte.Tatoeba #13655712 by Naina, translation #7114251 by CM
- Er machte das Gegenteil.He did the opposite.This sentence is useful for describing doing the opposite using machte.Tatoeba #1510891 by Dejo, translation #1504455 by CK
- Was haben Sie gestern getan?What did you do yesterday?
- Herr Müller, was haben Sie im Urlaub gemacht?Mr. Müller, what did you do on vacation?
- Hast du heute schon deine Hausaufgaben gemacht?Did you do your homework today?
- Hast du das Buch gelesen?Did you read the book?
- Was hast du gedacht?What did you think?
- 91 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Laura and Julian are talking about a school project.
- LauraHast du die Hausaufgabe gestern fertiggestellt?Did you finish the homework yesterday?
- JulianJa, ich machte die Arbeit in einer Stunde.Yes, I did the work in one hour.
- LauraDas war wirklich sehr schnell von dir.That was really very fast of you.
- JulianIch wollte das Wochenende einfach frei haben.I just wanted to have the weekend free.
Sources
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
