Breakdown of Er hat das Abitur gemacht.
machen
to make, to do
haben
to have
das Abitur
the Abitur (school-leaving exam)
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Questions & Answers about Er hat das Abitur gemacht.
What exactly is das Abitur?
Das Abitur is the highest school-leaving certificate in Germany, usually taken around age 18 or 19. It qualifies a student to attend university, roughly equivalent to A-Levels in the UK or a high school diploma with AP or Honors classes in the US.
The translation says "his Abitur", so why does the German sentence use das instead of sein?
German often uses the definite article (das) instead of a possessive pronoun (sein) when the context makes it obvious whose achievement it is. You can definitely say Er hat sein Abitur gemacht, but using das is extremely common and natural here.
Why do we use gemacht (made/done) here? Can I use a word for "passed" or "graduated"?
In German, the most common, everyday way to say you graduated with this certificate is das Abitur machen. If you want to specifically emphasize that he passed the exams, you would use the verb bestehen (Er hat das Abitur bestanden).
Is there a shorter way to say Abitur in everyday spoken German?
Yes, in casual conversation, it is almost always shortened to das Abi. A native speaker would very likely say Er hat sein Abi gemacht or Er hat das Abi gemacht.