The two most common meanings of the verb ausmachen are "to turn something off" and "to bring something to a conclusion with someone, to arrange something, or to agree on something." These are the first two definitions listed in the academic Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache (DWDS) from the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities. Interestingly, both of these usages are listed as slang.

The commercial dictionary publisher Duden lists the two definitions as numbers one and three, respectively, but only lists the "turning off" definition as slang.

banner4 PLACEHOLDER

It does make you wonder: Should the most widely used version of a word still be considered slang?

TURN IT OFF!

Jetzt mach doch bitte mal den Fernseher aus!

Now please turn off the television!

Caption 12, Lerchenberg: Du bist, was du isst

 Play Caption

Ey DJ! DJ, mach die Musik aus!

Hey DJ! DJ, turn the music off!

Caption 70, Laserkraft 3D: Nein, Mann

 Play Caption

Was bedeutet es, wenn wir das Licht ausmachen?

What does it mean when we turn out the light?

Caption 56, Kinder lernen: Wie aus Wind Strom gemacht wird

 Play Caption

Aber ein Hund, ne? -Machen Sie die Kamera jetzt aus.

But a dog, right? -Turn the camera off now.

Caption 30, Kurzfilm-Festival: Nicht nur der Himmel ist blau

 Play Caption

A less informal way to ask somebody to turn a device off would be to use the verb ausschalten.

MAKE ARRANGEMENTS

Die Mitarbeiter stellen uns den Kontakt zu den jeweiligen Ansprechpartnern her, so dass wir alle nötigen Infos vorab schon einmal erfragen und die Drehtermine ausmachen können.

The staff puts us in touch with the respective contact person so that we can request all the necessary information in advance and set up the dates for the shoot.

Captions 10-12, Rund um den Airport: Hinter den Kulissen

 Play Caption

Und da haben wir auch, direkt auch, einen Songwriting-Termin ausgemacht.

And then we also arranged a songwriting session right away.

Caption 31, LOTTE & Max Giesinger: Interview

 Play Caption

Ihr könnt doch hier nicht einfach alles ausräumen. So war das nicht ausgemacht.

You can't just clear out everything. This is not what was agreed upon.

Captions 14-15, Lilly unter den Linden: Umzug in die DDR

 Play Caption

A more formal way to agree to something or arrange something would be to use the verb vereinbaren.

Yet a third meaning of ausmachen combines the verb with a dative pronoun (mir, dir, euch, Ihnen, uns). It's often translated as "would you mind," or "if it doesn't disturb you" etc.

Würde es dir was ausmachen, wenn du allein kommst?

Would you mind coming alone?

Caption 71, Meine fremde Freundin: Was alle denken

 Play Caption

Further Learning
Go to the DWDS and Duden definitions linked above and learn a couple of the less-used meanings of ausmachen. Then go to find some more examples on Yabla German to see ausmachen used in a real-world context.

I've spoken German with native German speakers on a daily basis for many years, but I still think that some verbs related to the root verb fragen are confusing. The fact that they all deal with different types of "asking" just makes matters worse! Let's see if this lesson can help us all get a better overview of the verbs abfragen, anfragen, befragen, and erfragen.

Also gut. Dann werde ich dich abfragen, Sabine.

All right. Then I'll quiz you, Sabine.

Caption 10, Bundesländer und ihre Rezepte: Rheinland-Pfalz

 Play Caption

Dann werde ich euch jetzt abfragen.

Then I'll ask you now.

Caption 4, Bundesländer und ihre Rezepte: Baden-Württemberg

 Play Caption

banner PLACEHOLDER

The verb abfragen is used when you want to formally test or quiz somebody to find out how much they know about something. It is usually translated as "to ask," or "to quiz."

Bei Interesse einfach bei einem Outdoorfitness-Anbieter anfragen.

If you're interested, simply inquire at an outdoor fitness provider.

Caption 40, Neuer Fitness-Trend: Kinderwagen-Workout

 Play Caption

Die haben dann auch immer angefragt und wir haben oft denen Sachen hinterhergebracht.

They then always asked as well, and we often brought them things afterwards.

Captions 18-19, Die Klasse: Berlin '61

 Play Caption

The verb anfragen is the best choice of words if you are approaching somebody with a question or inquiry. It's usually translated as "to ask" or "to inquire." 

Ich mein, wir sollten sie mal intensiver befragen.

I mean, we should question her more intensively.

Caption 70, Die Pfefferkörner: Endspurt

 Play Caption

Der Kollege Johannes Lemke hat ihn noch einmal befragt nach der spielentscheidenden Szene.

Colleague Johannes Lemke interviewed him again after the match-winning scene.

Caption 35, Fußball: U21-Nationalmannschaft

 Play Caption

The verb befragen, on the other hand, usually means to get specific information from somebody in a more formal sense, for example in a survey, or even a police interview. It is often translated as "to question" or "to interrogate," or even—as in the above example—"to interview." 

Sie können dort sehr gerne die Ankünfte beziehungsweise Ausgänge zu den ankommenden Flügen erfragen.

There you can easily inquire about arrivals or exits for arriving flights.

Captions 24-25, Flugreisen: Was mache ich, wenn...

 Play Caption

... so dass wir alle nötigen Infos vorab schon einmal erfragen und die Drehtermine ausmachen können.

... so that we can request all the necessary information in advance and set up the dates for the shoot.

Captions 11-12, Rund um den Airport: Hinter den Kulissen

 Play Caption

Lastly, the verb erfragen means to get information by asking questions, for instance for an address, directions, the time of day, or an opinion. 

As you can see, there seems to be a lot of overlap in the meaning of these words, but if you can remember the following, you'll usually find the right word for the context: 

USE                 IF YOU
abfragen          want to find out how much someone knows about something (quizzing)

anfragen           are approaching somebody with a question (inquiring)

befragen           want specific information from somebody (questioning, interrogating)

 erfragen           want to get information by asking questions (requesting).

Further Learning
Go to Yabla German and find more examples of the above verbs. See if you can guess the meaning of some other verbs that use the root word fragen, such as ausfragen, durchfragen, gegenfragen, nachfragen, and weiterfragen. You can also look up the German definitions of the words at Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache or on the Duden website.