Whats the difference between "tun" and "machen"?

Question

Whats the difference between "tun" and "machen"?

Answer 1

tun is to do... and machen is to make....

Answer 2

there is not so much of a difference in an English translation.

tun=to do

machen= to make, but in german you say ich mache meine Hausaufgaben (literally, im making my homework) but you use "tun" to say things like "was kann ich tun?" (what can I do?)

Answer 3

Good question.

Tun = simply doing an activity

Machen =  doing an activity that results in a product. For example: Ich mache einen Kuchen (I make a cake)

I hear/see machen used a lot more, maybe because most activities result in products?

Answer 4

Informal is, Was machs du? Was machen sie is formal. Was tun is a dialectic of of doing. Was tun sie. (What are you doing?)

Answer 5

As in "Was tun?" and "Was machen Sie?" The first one is informal, the second is formal.