Before you start

Meet tun

Read how the verb is used, then write your own 10 sentences with it.

All 10 meanings

  1. to do (to perform or execute an action)
  2. to do (harm or good, but negative by default) [with dative ‘to someone’]
  3. (somewhat informal, often reinforced with “so”) to pretend, to play-act [with als ob (+ clause) ‘doing something’]
  4. (chiefly colloquial) to put, to place, to add (especially of smaller objects or ingredients)
  5. (chiefly colloquial, impersonal, with “es”) to work, to function
  6. (northern and western Germany, colloquial, reflexive, with an indefinite pronoun) to make a difference; to be different
Forms

How tun changes

PronounPräsensPräteritum
ichtuetat
dutusttatest
er/sie/estuttat
wirtuntaten
ihrtuttatet
Sietuntaten

Partizip II getan · Perfekt with haben

Three examples

  1. 1
    Was tust du heute?What are you doing today?present-tense question
  2. 2
    Ich habe das für dich getan.I did that for you.Perfekt with haben
  3. 3
    Was soll ich tun?What should I do?modal verb with infinitive
Verb family

Separable verbs built on tun

Add a prefix to tun and the meaning changes.

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