Learn hinkriegen vs machen vs schaffen in German. Build fluency with personalized exercises, chats, and video recommendations.
All three can relate to “doing” or “managing to do” something, but they’re used differently:
machen = to do / to make; the most general word.
Ich mache meine Hausaufgaben.
schaffen = to manage, accomplish, succeed in doing something; often about reaching a goal or finishing despite effort.
Ich schaffe die Prüfung.
Ich habe es geschafft.
hinkriegen = to manage to get something done / pull something off; informal, often practical or about fixing/arranging something.
Ich kriege das schon hin.
A useful contrast: machen is simply “do it,” while schaffen and hinkriegen mean “manage to do it.” hinkriegen sounds more colloquial than schaffen.