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machen
From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
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See also: Machen
Czech
Pronunciation
Noun
machen f
German
Etymology
Inherited from Middle High German machen, from Old High German mahhōn, from Proto-West Germanic *makōn, from Proto-Indo-European *mag- (“to knead, mix, make”). Cognate with Dutch maken, Low German maken, English make.
Pronunciation
Verb
machen (weak, third-person singular present macht, past tense machte, past participle gemacht, auxiliary haben)
- (transitive) to make, to produce, to create (an object, arrangement, situation, etc.)
- Synonyms: produzieren, herstellen
- Ich hab dir einen Kuchen gemacht! ― I made you a pie!
- Du hast einen Fehler gemacht. ― You made a mistake.
- (transitive) to make, prepare (food, drinks, etc.)
- Synonym: vorbereiten
- Machst du heute das Essen? ― Are you making dinner today?
- sich eine Pizza machen ― to prepare a pizza for oneself
- (transitive, informal) to do, perform, carry out (an action) (to execute; to put into operation)
- Synonym: tun
- Mach es! ― Do it!
- Das hat er ganz allein gemacht! ― He did that all by himself!
- ein Experiment machen ― to perform an experiment
- (transitive) to do (a noun); indicates an activity associated with a noun
- Sport machen ― do sports
- eine Party machen ― have a party
- (transitive) to go (a specified sound) (to make the sound)
- Das Auto machte "Bumm" und hielt an. ― The car went "boom" and stopped.
- (transitive) to make, to cause [with accusative ‘someone/something’ and infinitive ‘(to) do something’; or with dass (+ clause) ‘something (to) happen’]
- Sie hat mich lachen gemacht. ― She made me laugh.
- Deine Witze machen, dass ich lächle. ― Your jokes make me smile.
- (transitive) to cause [with dative ‘for/in someone’ and accusative abstract noun ‘fear, pain, difficulty, happiness, etc.’] (often translated idiomatically with English make followed by an adjective)
- Die Nacht macht mir Angst. ― Night makes me afraid. (literally, “The night causes fear in me.”)
- (transitive) to make (to cause to be) [with accusative ‘someone/something’ and adjective ‘to be in a given state’]
- Dieser Film macht mich schläfrig. ― This movie makes me sleepy.
- (transitive) to make (to transform) [with accusative ‘something’ and aus (+ dative) ‘from something else’] (often translated idiomatically with English turn (something into something else))
- Die Mühle macht Mehl aus Weizen. ― The mill turns wheat into flower. (literally, “The mill makes flour from wheat.”)
- (transitive) to make (to have as a feature) (often not translated literally)
- Die Straße macht vor uns eine Linkskurve. ― The road makes a turn to the left ahead.
- (transitive, informal, colloquial) to come to, to total, to cost (to require the payment of)
- Synonym: kosten
- Wie viel macht das? ― How much does that come to?
- (transitive, arithmetic) to make, to be (the result of a calculation)
- Sieben plus fünf macht zwölf. ― Seven plus five makes twelve.
- (transitive, informal, colloquial) to make (to earn, gain wages, profit, etc.)
- Synonyms: verdienen, einheimsen
- Der Herr Müller ist echt reich; der macht mehr als 5000 Euro im Monat.
- Mr Müller is quite rich; he makes more than 5000 Euros per month.
- (transitive) to be, to play (to act as the indicated role, especially in a performance)
- (transitive, colloquial) to signify, to mean [with nichts, viel, etc.] (translated idiomatically as English (not) matter)
- Das macht nichts! ― That doesn't matter! (literally, “That means nothing!”)
- (intransitive, informal) to make, to make oneself out to be, to act, to play (to behave so as to give an appearance of being; to act as if one were (something, or a certain way)) [with auf (+ accusative) ‘a role’]
- Jetzt macht er auf Elder Statesman. ― Now he's playing the elder statesman.
- (intransitive, informal, euphemistic) to do one's business, do number two or number one, go (to defecate or urinate)
- groß machen (childish) ― to go poop
- klein machen (childish) ― to go pee
- (reflexive) to do, to fare [(often) with adverb ‘well, badly, etc.’]
- Machen Sie sich gut? ― Are you doing well?
- 1909 [1901], Thomas Mann, chapter 2, in Buddenbrooks […] , Berlin: Deutsche Buch-Gemeinschaft, →OCLC, part 8, page 433:
- »A propos, wie geht es dem Kinde?« / »Danke, Tom, es macht sich; […] «.
- "How is the child?" / "Doing nicely, Tom. […] "
- (reflexive) to look (to have an appearance of being) [with adjective ‘a particular way’]
- Der Mantel macht sich sehr schön. ― The coat looks very nice.
- (dative reflexive, colloquial) to get cracking (on/with), to get a move on (it), to get down (to) [with an (+ accusative) ‘something’]
- (imperative) come on, let's go
Usage notes
- Unlike the English distinction between make and do, the verb machen (“make”) can be used as a synonym for tun (“do”) in most cases. However, tun cannot be used for the proper senses of machen.
- The verb machen can be combined with many different nouns to create various expressions. These can often be translated into English with make or take. For many of these expressions, a more specific verb is available and is usually preferred in formal or written language.
- Angaben machen ― to provide information
- eine Aufzeichnung machen ― to keep a record
- Ausflüchte machen ― to make excuses
- Bankrott/Pleite machen ― to go bankrupt
- eine Besorgung machen ― to run an errand
- ein Bett machen ― to make a bed
- Feierabend machen ― to call it a day
- Ferien machen ― to take a vacation, to go on holiday
- ein Feuer machen ― to light a fire
- ein Foto machen ― to take a picture
- Fortschritte machen ― to make headway
- Gewinn machen ― to turn a profit
- Kasse machen ― to cash in
- einen Krach machen ― to make a racket
- einen Kurs machen ― to take a course
- Notizen machen ― to take notes
- Platz machen ― to make room
- eine Reise machen ― to take a trip
- Schluss machen ― to call it quits
- Spaß machen ― to be fun
- Überstunden machen ― to do overtime
- Witze machen ― to joke
Conjugation
1Rare except in very formal contexts; alternative in würde normally preferred.
Derived terms
- abmachen
- anmachen
- aufmachen
- aus einer Mücke einen Elefanten machen
- ausmachen
- beimachen
- bekanntmachen
- draufmachen
- durchmachen
- einmachen
- fertigmachen
- freimachen
- heilmachen
- hermachen
- herummachen
- heruntermachen
- hinmachen
- kaputtmachen
- kleinmachen
- losmachen
- miesmachen
- mitmachen
- nachmachen
- niedermachen
- reinemachen
- rummachen
- saubermachen
- sich davonmachen
- sich fortmachen
- sich ranmachen
- Sinn machen
- übermachen
- Übung macht den Meister
- vermachen
- vormachen
- wegmachen
- weitermachen
- wiedergutmachen
- zumachen
Further reading
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Middle English
Verb
machen
- alternative form of macchen
Middle High German
Etymology
Inherited from Old High German mahhōn, from Proto-West Germanic *makōn.
Pronunciation
Verb
machen (class 2 weak, third-person singular present machet, past tense machete, past participle gemachet, auxiliary hān)
Conjugation
Descendants
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Spanish
Pronunciation
Verb
machen
- inflection of machar:
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