Breakdown of Machst du jetzt etwas?
du
you (informal singular)
machen
to make, to do
etwas
something
jetzt
now
Questions & Answers about Machst du jetzt etwas?
Why does the verb machen end in -st here?
Because the subject is du (the informal "you" for one person). When you use du, regular verbs like machen (to do/make) drop their -en ending and take an -st ending instead, becoming machst. If you were talking to a stranger or someone formally, you would use Sie and keep the -en ending: Machen Sie jetzt etwas?
The translation is "Are you doing...", but where is the word for "are" in the German sentence?
German doesn't have an "-ing" form (present continuous) like English does. "You do" and "you are doing" are both just translated as du machst. You never need an extra word for "are" when talking about an action happening right now in German.
Why does the sentence start with Machst instead of du?
To turn a normal sentence into a "yes or no" question in German, you just swap the verb and the subject. The statement "You are doing something" is Du machst etwas. To ask "Are you doing something?", you move the verb to the very front: Machst du etwas?
English normally uses "anything" instead of "something" in questions. Does etwas mean both?
Yes! In English, we often switch from "something" to "anything" when asking a question. German keeps it simple: etwas covers both "something" and "anything", so you don't need to learn a second word.