German Verb Conjugations: Tun (To Do)

Tenses and Moods

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 The German verb tun means to do. It is a strong (irregular) verb. Its past tense forms tat and getan are irregular. Note how this verb follows the vowel pattern u-a-a in the past.

  • Principal Parts: tun tat getan
  • Imperative (Commands): (du) Tue! | (ihr) Tut! | Tun Sie! 

Tun - Present Tense - Präsens

Deutsch English

Singular Present Tense

ich tue

I do
I am doing

du tust

you do

you are doing

er tut

sie tut

es tut
he does
he is doing
she does
she is doing
it does
it is doing
Plural Present Tense
wir tun we do
we are doing
ihr tut you (guys) do
you are doing

sie tun

they do
they are doing

Sie tun you do
you are doing

Examples:
Wir wollen das morgen tun.
We want to do that tomorrow.
Was tust du jetzt?
What are you doing now?

Tun - Simple Past Tense - Imperfekt

Deutsch

English

Singular Simple Past Tense

ich tat

I did

du tatest

you did

er tat
sie tat
es tat

he did
she did
it did

Plural Simple Past Tense

wir taten

we did

ihr tatet

you (guys) did

sie taten

they did

Sie taten

you did

Tun - Compound Past Tense (Present Perfect) - Perfekt

Deutsch

English

Singular Compound Past Tense

ich habe getan

I have done

I did

du hast getan

you have done

you did

er hat getan
sie hat getan
es hat getan
he has done
he did
she has done
she did
it has done
it did
Plural Compound Past Tense
wir haben getan we have done
we did

ihr habt getan

you (guys) have done
you did

sie haben getan they have done
they did
Sie haben getan you have done
you did

Tun - Past Perfect Tense - Plusquamperfekt

Deutsch

English

Singular Past Perfect Tense

ich hatte getan

I had done

du hattest getan

you had done

er hatte getan
sie hatte getan
es hatte getan

he had done
she had done
it had done
Plural Past Perfect Tense
wir hatten getan

we had done

ihr hattet getan

you (guys) had done

sie hatten getan

they had done

Sie hatten getan

you had done

Tun - Future Tense - Futur

The future tense is used much less in German than in English. Very often the present tense is used with an adverb instead, as with the present progressive in English: Er ruft morgen an. = He's going to call tomorrow.

Deutsch English

Singular Future Tense

ich werde tun

I will do

du wirst tun

you will do

er wird tun
sie wird tun
es wird tun

he will do
she will do
it will do
Plural Future Tense

wir werden tun

we will do

ihr werdet tun

you (guys) will do

sie werden tun

they will do

Sie werden tun

you will do

Tun - Future Perfect Tense - Futur II

Deutsch English

Singular Future Perfect Tense

ich werde getan haben

I will have done

du wirst getan haben

you will have done

er wird getan haben
sie wird getan haben
es wird getan haben

he will have done
she will have done
it will have done
Plural Future Perfect Tense

wir werden getan haben

we will have done

ihr werdet getan haben

you (guys) will have done

sie werden getan haben

they will have done

Sie werden getan haben

you will have done

Tun - Commands - Imperativ

There are three command (imperative) forms, one for each "you" word. In addition, the "let's" form is used with wir.

Deutsch English
(du) tue!

do

(ihr) tut! do

tun Sie!

do

tun wir!

let's do

Tun - Subjunctive I - Konjunktiv I

The subjunctive is a mood, not a tense. The Subjunctive I (Konjunktiv I) is based on the infinitive form of the verb. It is most often used to express indirect quotation (indirekte Rede). Rare in conversational use, the Subjunctive I is often seen in newspapers, usually in the third person (er tue, he is said to do).

Deutsch

English

Singular

ich tue (würde tun)*

I do

du tuest

you do

er tue
sie tue
es tue

he does
she does
it does

Because the Subjunctive I (Konjunktiv I) of "tun" in the first person (ich) is identical to the indicative (normal) form, the Subjunctive II is sometimes substituted.

Plural
wir tuen

we do

ihr tuet

you (guys) do

sie tuen

they do
Sie tuen

you do

Tun Subjunctive II - Konjunktiv II

The Subjunctive II (Konjunktiv II) expresses wishful thinking, contrary-to-reality situations and is used to express politeness. The Subjunctive II is based on the simple past tense (Imperfekttat), adding an umlaut: täte.

Deutsch English
Singular

ich täte

I would do

du tätest

you would do

er täte
sie täte
es täte

he would do
she would do
it would do

Plural

wir täten

we would do

ihr tätet

you (guys) would do

sie täten

they would do

Sie täten

you would do

Since the Subjunctive is a mood and not a tense, it can be used in various tenses. Below are examples that illustrate how tun forms the subjunctive in past or future time. In such cases, the subjunctive forms of haben or werden are combined with tun.

Past Time

Deutsch English
er habe getan

he is said to have done

ich hätte getan

I would have done

sie hätten getan

they would have done

Future Time
Deutsch

English

er werde getan haben

he will have done

ich würde tun

I would do

du würdest getan haben

you would have done
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Flippo, Hyde. "German Verb Conjugations: Tun (To Do)." ThoughtCo, Apr. 5, 2023, thoughtco.com/german-verb-conjugations-tun-to-do-4070838. Flippo, Hyde. (2023, April 5). German Verb Conjugations: Tun (To Do). Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/german-verb-conjugations-tun-to-do-4070838 Flippo, Hyde. "German Verb Conjugations: Tun (To Do)." ThoughtCo. https://www.thoughtco.com/german-verb-conjugations-tun-to-do-4070838 (accessed March 28, 2024).