Breakdown of Was tust du für die Mannschaft?
du
you (informal singular)
was
what
für
for
tun
to do
die Mannschaft
the team
Questions & Answers about Was tust du für die Mannschaft?
Why is it die Mannschaft after für? Doesn't für take the accusative case?
Yes, für always takes the accusative case! The word Mannschaft (team) is feminine. In German, the feminine word for "the" is die in both the nominative (subject) and accusative (object) cases. So it is in the accusative case here, it just doesn't change its shape like masculine nouns do.
Why does this sentence use tust instead of machst?
tust comes from the verb tun (to do). In German, tun and machen (to make/do) can be very similar. tun is used more for general actions or behaviors, while machen is often used when creating or producing something. For a general question like "What are you doing?", both Was tust du? and Was machst du? are commonly used and mean the same thing.
How do you conjugate the verb tun?
The verb tun (to do) is slightly irregular because its stem is just tu-. To say "you do", you add the standard -st ending to get du tust. Other common forms are ich tue (I do) and er/sie/es tut (he/she/it does).
Is there an easy way to remember that Mannschaft is a feminine noun?
Yes! Any German noun that ends in the suffix -schaft (like die Mannschaft or die Freundschaft, meaning "friendship") is always feminine. This makes knowing the gender of these words very easy!
Learn Was tust du für die Mannschaft and more in German
All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.
- ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
- ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
- ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free