What's the difference in usage between “machen” and “tun”?

Question

Is there any rules or guidelines when to use which one?

Du darfst mir nicht sagen, was ich machen soll.

or

Du darfst mir nicht sagen, was ich tun soll.

I find a big overlap in their usage:

Was soll ich nur machen/tun? (So what am I supposed to do?)

Ich habe nichts getan.

Are they interchangeable?

Answer 1

The verbs tun (to do) and machen (to make) are very similar. You can exchange them in many sentences with each other, but they don't always mean the same.

The following synonyms for both words show the different connotations:

• tun:
  handeln, unternehmen, realisieren, verwirklichen, vollführen, beschäftigen, betätigen
• machen:
  anfertigen, herstellen durchführen, bereiten, fertigen, fabrizieren, anrichten, bewältigen

tun can be indefinite in time and relate to the bigger picture. machen has a defined framework - and the results are visible. The question "Was willst du jetzt tun?" requires a fundamental decision, an "either - or".

"Was willst du jetzt machen?" refers more to a direct action or reaction or on the next step. machen will be associated with a specific, often small (manual) activity.

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There are a few fixed expression in German that you can only use with "tun" or respectively "machen". Examples:

• "Gutes tun"
• "Das macht nichts."
• "Das tut nichts zur Sache."

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Origin: both words come from West Germanic verbs. The Indoeuropean roots are mag (machen) and dhe (tun). machen meant "to knead" (in German: "kneten") originally, "tun" meant "put", "place" and "lay".

Answer 2

It wasn't yet mentioned that there are cases in which "machen" can be used, but "tun" cannot. This is always when "machen" is used as a transitive verb, because "tun" can never be transitive. "Ich mache einem Freund ein Geschenk" is correct, but "Ich tue einem Freund ein Geschenk" is not. The latter sentence does only make sense in youth language, meaning "Ich gebe einem Freund ein Geschenk", where the former says "Ich erstelle ein Geschenk für einen Freund und gebe es ihm dann". If used in this context (jmd. ein Geschenk machen or jmd. eine Freude machen), "machen" does in fact not have any exact synonyms at all. There are other uses for "machen" as a transitive verb, though - for example "Ich mache eine Vase" means "Ich produziere eine Vase". In this context "tun" can be used neither, because "machen" is still used transitively.

Answer 3

The difference appears to be that "machen" tends to imply an action that brings something into existence (cf. "maker" in English) or changes it somehow (usually physical, but also in a figurative sense):

• Ich mache mir gerade etwas zu essen. (I'm making myself something to eat.)
• Ich mache Dich zur Schnecke! (I'll kick your a**!)
• Du machst mir Angst! (You're frightening me!)
• Was machst Du beruflich? (What do you do for a living?)

"Tun" either tends to focus much more on the action itself rather that its effect, or is a kind of execution of an intention, order etc.

• Tu es einfach! (Just do it!)
• Was tust Du da? (What are you doing?)
• Jemandem etwas antun. (To do something to someone. (in this construction usually something horrible))

It is one of these nuance things that are so hard for non-native speakers.

Answer 4

I don't think, that there is any difference, when used in a question.

But looking at the answers there is a difference.

machen is usually followed by a substantive

Ich mache meine Hausaufgaben.

while tun is followed by a verb. At some very colloquial level I would say

Ich tue gerade lesen

but some how feeling it isn't good style, I changed it while writing the answer to

Ich lese gerade ein Buch.

Which doesn't contain the verb tun. I'm not sure whether all examples I can think up are in some way colloquial.

Further machen is used in context, when something is produced, while tun is describes spending ones time.