What do you do? in German 🇩🇪

Sentence info.

The German sentence “Was machst du?” directly translates to “What are you doing?” in English. The sentence is formed with the following components:

1. “Was” – This is the interrogative pronoun “what.”
2. “machst” – This is the second person singular present tense conjugation of the verb “machen,” which means “to do” or “to make.”
3. “du” – This is the pronoun “you” in the nominative case, referring to the person being addressed.

The sentence structure follows the standard word order for a question in German: the interrogative pronoun comes first, followed by the conjugated verb and then the subject.

**Tips to Remember the Sentence:**

– Remember that “Was?” is the starting point for questions involving “what.”
– Recall that in German question formation, verbs often come before subjects.
– Associate “machst” with “machen” and the action of doing or making something.
– “du” is a direct way to address someone informally as “you.”

**Alternatives to “Was machst du?”:**

– “Was bist du am Machen?” – This is a colloquial way of asking the same question, often used in certain regions of Germany.
– “Was tust du?” – This is essentially the same question but uses the verb “tun” instead of “machen,” though “tun” is less commonly used in this context.
– “Was treibst du?” – “Treiben” often implies activity or mischief and translates to “What are you up to?”
– “Was geht bei dir?” – This is a very casual way to ask what someone is doing and is more like “What’s up with you?” in English.
– “Was machst du gerade?” – By adding “gerade,” it specifies the question to mean “What are you doing right now?”

a few seconds ago

Sentence info.

“Was machst du?” is a German phrase that translates to “What are you doing?” in English. It is formed using the following grammatical components:

– “Was” means “what”. It’s the interrogative pronoun used to ask for information specifying something.
– “machst” is the second person singular present tense form of the verb “machen”, which means “to do” or “to make”.
– “du” is the pronoun “you” in the nominative case, referring to the second person singular.

This sentence structure is straightforward in German: the interrogative pronoun “was” comes at the beginning for a direct question, followed by the conjugated verb “machst”, and finally the subject pronoun “du”.

Tips to remember this structure:
– German word order for simple questions often starts with the question word (W-words like “was”, “wo”, “wann”, etc.), followed by the verb, and the subject.
– Think of the English sentence structure “What do you do?” and notice the similarities: question word + verb + subject.

Alternate ways to ask “What are you doing?” in German could include:

– “Was bist du gerade am machen?” which is a more colloquial way to say “What are you currently doing?”
– “Was tust du?” is another variant, using “tun” as the verb, though it’s less common and can sound a bit awkward.
– “Was treibst du?” or “Was treibst du so?” are more casual and colloquial expressions which can also mean “What are you up to?”

Remember, the context in which you’re asking will determine the best phrase to use. “Was machst du?” is suitable for most casual situations and is a common way to ask someone what they are doing at that moment.

41 minutes ago