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GERMAN · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

machen.

to make, to produce, to create (an object, arrangement, situation, etc.)

6 characters2 syllables approx.Deutsch language

Meaning & usage

verb/ˈmaxən/[ˈmäχən][ˈmäχn̩][ˈmäxɛn]
  1. to make, to produce, to create (an object, arrangement, situation, etc.)

    transitive · weak
    Ich hab dir einen Kuchen gemacht!
    Du hast einen Fehler gemacht.
  2. to make, prepare (food, drinks, etc.)

    transitive · weak
    Machst du heute das Essen?
    sich eine Pizza machen
  3. to do, perform, carry out (an action) (to execute; to put into operation)

    informal · transitive · weak
    Mach es!
    Das hat er ganz allein gemacht!
  4. to do (a noun); indicates an activity associated with a noun

    transitive · weak
    Sport machen
    eine Party machen
  5. to go (a specified sound) (to make the sound)

    transitive · weak
    Das Auto machte "Bumm" und hielt an.
  6. to make, to cause

    transitive · weak
    Sie hat mich lachen gemacht.
    Deine Witze machen, dass ich lächle.
  7. 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)

    transitive · weak
    Die Nacht macht mir Angst.
  8. to make (to cause to be)

    transitive · weak
    Dieser Film macht mich schläfrig.
  9. to make (to transform) [with accusative ‘something’ and aus (+ dative) ‘from something else’] (often translated idiomatically with English turn (something into something else))

    transitive · weak
    Die Mühle macht Mehl aus Weizen.
  10. to make (to have as a feature) (often not translated literally)

    transitive · weak
    Die Straße macht vor uns eine Linkskurve.
  11. to come to, to total, to cost (to require the payment of)

    colloquial · informal · transitive · weak
    Wie viel macht das?
  12. to make, to be (the result of a calculation)

    transitive · weak
    Sieben plus fünf macht zwölf.
  13. to make (to earn, gain wages, profit, etc.)

    colloquial · informal · transitive · weak
    Der Herr Müller ist echt reich; der macht mehr als 5000 Euro im Monat.
  14. to be, to play (to act as the indicated role, especially in a performance)

    transitive · weak
  15. to signify, to mean [with nichts, viel, etc.] (translated idiomatically as English (not) matter)

    colloquial · transitive · weak
    Das macht nichts!
  16. 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))

    informal · intransitive · weak
    Jetzt macht er auf Elder Statesman.
  17. to do one's business, do number two or number one, go (to defecate or urinate)

    euphemistic · informal · intransitive · weak
    groß machen
    klein machen
  18. to do, to fare

    reflexive · weak
    Machen Sie sich gut?
  19. to look (to have an appearance of being)

    reflexive · weak
    Der Mantel macht sich sehr schön.
    So eine Lücke macht sich nicht gut im Lebenslauf.
  20. to work out, to be manageable, to be sensible

    reflexive · weak
  21. to get cracking (on/with), to get a move on (it), to get down (to)

    colloquial · dative · reflexive · weak
  22. come on, let's go

    imperative · weak
Where this word comes from

Etymology tree Proto-Germanic *makaz Proto-West Germanic *mak Proto-Indo-European *-h₂ Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂ Proto-Indo-European *-yéti Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂yéti Proto-Indo-European *-h₂ti Proto-Germanic *-ōną Proto-West Germanic *-ōn Proto-West Germanic *makōn Old High German mahhōn Middle High German machen German machen 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.

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.