So many German verbs are constructed with the verb machen, but only a few are constructed with tun. The verbs machen and tun may have overlapping meanings, but the verbs we will look at here use tun exclusively.
One phrase you learned early on was Es tut mir leid ("I'm sorry"). The verb leidtun can literally be translated as "to be sorry (for someone)."
Es tut mir leid, ich wusste das nicht!
I'm sorry, I didn't know that!
Caption 30, Nicos Weg - A2 - Folge 71: Meiner Meinung nach
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Frederick tat das leid, dass Piggeldy so schlottern musste.
Frederick was sorry that Piggeldy shivered in such a way.
Caption 19, Piggeldy und Frederick - Die Treppe
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The verbs guttun and wehtun can be seen as opposites, though wehtun is also used to refer to physical pain.
Was tut gut, was tut weh?
What does good, what causes pain?
Caption 6, Clueso - Neuanfang
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Oh, meine Hand tut weh!
Oh, my hand hurts!
Caption 21, Felix und Franzi - Das Training
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Der Bauch tut mir weh, der Kopf tut mir weh.
My stomach hurts, my head hurts.
Caption 45, Deutschkurs in Tübingen - Verben der 3. Kategorie
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The phrase tun als ob means to act like or to pretend.
Schorsch tut so, als wäre er ein Dinosaurier.
Schorsch is pretending to be a dinosaur.
Caption 49, Peppa Wutz - Einkaufen und mehr
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Und ich tue, als täte nichts weh.
And I act as though nothing hurts.
Caption 12, Andreas Bourani - Eisberg
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Und Sie tun hier so, als hätten Sie einen Doktortitel?
And you are pretending to have a doctorate here?
Caption 20, Das Lügenbüro - Die Bewerbung
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Further Learning
In addition to doing a search on Yabla German, write your own sentences to practice using these verbs and phrases in the present and past tense.
This week's lesson is dedicated to basic German business vocabulary. From news reports about the economy (die Wirtschaft) to videos that take place in office settings, there's quite a lot to be found on Yabla German. In this lesson, we have highlighted all business and workplace vocabulary.
First of all, there are a number of words for "the business" or "the company":
Wir haben einen Vertrag mit der Firma.
We have a contract with the company.
Caption 36, Mülltrennung: in Heidelberg
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Er ist Geschäftsführer des Unternehmens.
He is the director of the company.
Caption 32, Sicherheit im Straßenverkehr: Versicherer entwickeln automatischen Notruf für alle Autos
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Um dies sicherzustellen, habe der Konzern die Frequenz der Belieferungen erhöht.
To ensure this, the group has increased the frequency of deliveries.
Caption 13, Coronavirus: Trotz Hamsterkäufen keine Versorgungsprobleme
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The word for business in general is das Geschäft. Above, you see the word der Geschäftsführer, which would be the director or CEO of a company. The word for "co-worker" is der Arbeitskollege or die Arbeitskollegin, or simply der Kollege or die Kollegin, which is how the employees (der Mitarbeiter or die Mitarbeiterin) at a company would describe each other. They would likely refer to the person they report to as der Chef or die Chefin, which (Achtung!) in German is not someone who works in a kitchen.
Genau, ihre Kollegin, Frau Larsen, hat mir alles gezeigt, die ganzen Büros, und mir die Mitarbeiter vorgestellt.
Exactly, your colleague Ms. Larsen showed me everything, all the offices, and introduced me to the employees.
Captions 9-10, Das Lügenbüro: Die Bewerbung
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„Während ich an meinen Rechnungen saß, kam meine Chefin und hat mir noch mehr Aufgaben zugeteilt.“
"While I was sitting with my bills, my boss came and assigned me further tasks."
Captions 41-42, Eva erklärt: temporale Konnektoren
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In a company, "the department" is die Abteilung. Take a look:
Hier in der Personalabteilung ist eine Halbtagsstelle frei geworden.
A part-time job has become free here in the human resources department.
Caption 40, Berufsleben: Probleme mit Mitarbeitern
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Sie suchen nach jemandem für ihre Marketingabteilung.
They're looking for someone for their marketing department.
Caption 8, Berufsleben: das Vorstellungsgespräch
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In terms of finances and profits, here are some good words to know:
Meine Berechnungen für den zu erwartenden Absatz liegen Ihnen vor.
My calculations for the expected sales are lying in front of you.
Caption 55, Mama arbeitet wieder Kapitel 2: Kompromisse zu finden ist nicht einfach
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Siebenundvierzig Millionen Euro Umsatz hat die Messe in diesem Jahr gemacht.
The trade show made forty-seven million euros in gross revenue this year.
Caption 33, Agrarmesse Grüne Woche in Berlin
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Im letzten Jahr wurde ein Rekordergebnis von einundzwanzig-Komma-acht Millionen Euro Gewinn erzielt.
Last year a record result of twenty-one point eight million euros profit was achieved.
Captions 37-38, Fluglinien Niki Air
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Further Learning
On Yabla German, watch our Berufsleben series to listen to conversations taking place in an office setting.
Quite a few words, phrases, and expressions related to promises, secrets, and lies have popped up in some of Yabla's recent video series. Let's look at some of these, as they can be a useful and fun addition to your vocabulary.
The basic word for a promise is das Versprechen, which stems from the verb versprechen. However, schwören can be used like "to swear" in English to indicate a promise as well:
Er erinnerte sie daran, dass man halten muss, was man verspricht.
He reminded her that you must keep what you have promised.
Caption 66, Märchen - Sagenhaft - Der Froschkönig
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Wir haben Flügel, schwören uns ewige Treue
We have wings, we swear eternal loyalty to each other
Caption 18, Andreas Bourani - Auf uns
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You may know the noun for "secret" but do you know the adjective for "top secret"?
Wie meinst du das? -Ich kenne dein Geheimnis! -Was?
How do you mean that? -I know your secret! -What?
Caption 37, Das Lügenbüro - Die Bewerbung
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Das streng geheime Papier, das in Olbrichts Panzerschrank lagert...
The top secret paper stored in Olbricht's safe...
Caption 4, Die Stunde der Offiziere - Dokudrama über den 20. Juli 1944
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The expression unter vier Augen means "in private" or "between the two of us":
Ich halte es sowieso für besser, mit Prinz Dietbert unter vier Augen zu sprechen.
I think it is better anyway to speak with Prince Dietbert under four eyes [in private].
Caption 33, Küss mich, Frosch - Leb wohl, kleiner Prinz
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You may know the noun die Lüge and the verb lügen, but there is also anlügen, which refers to lying to directly to a person.
Und wir sind umgezogen, ich hab dich angelogen
And we moved, I lied to you
Caption 2, AnnenMayKantereit - Oft gefragt
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Further Learning
Practice conjugating the verbs schwören, versprechen, and lügen/anlügen. You can find more examples of these verbs used in real life situations on Yabla German.