German ,,Machen" in English
- From: "Dr. Jamshid Ibrahim" <Jdibrahim@xxxxxxx>
- Date: 30 Oct 2005 09:12:14 -0800
As a joke sometimes I tell those who want to learn German: if you
understand "machen" you already speak German. Everything is
,,machbar: possible" literally "makeable" at least in spoken
German. In comparison English uses a variety of verbs in addition to
"make" which broadly refers to the production of sth new:
Urlaub machen go on holiday
Erfahrung machen have experience
Geschäfte machen do business
Foto machen take a picture
Examen machen take an exam
Das macht Spaß it is fun
Mach schnell hurry up
"Machen" enjoys a very high frequency in German and the list can
indeed be very long. The question is: what makes Germans be so obsessed
with this verb. Is it because they are a nation of engineers and like
"Basteln" making things after work or at the weekends? They nearly
make/do everything themselves: repair cars, dishwashers or even build
houses.
But on the other hand you can also speak English if you know "make"
and "do". Some English collocations surpass German in their
oddness:
Make friends
Make do with sth
Regards
Jamshid
.
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