Performen

Performen is a German verb borrowed from the English verb perform, used primarily in informal speech to describe carrying out an action or delivering a performance. It can function as a normal verb and as a nominalized noun, das Performen, referring to the act of performing.

Origin and usage notes: The term entered everyday German during the late 20th century, gaining traction through media, marketing, and youth language. As a loanword, it appears in various domains such as business, sports, IT, and entertainment. Conjugation follows standard -en verb rules: ich performe, du performst, er performt, wir performen, ihr performt, sie performen. The past participle is performt, used with haben (er hat performt).

Contexts and examples: In spoken German, people may say, “Der Redner performt eine eindrucksvolle Rede” or “Das Team performt heute hervorragend.” While common in informal contexts, performen is less favored in formal writing, where native alternatives like ausführen, durchführen, or leisten are preferred.

Linguistic status and alternatives: Performen is often described as an anglicism. Its acceptability varies by audience and region; it tends to be more frequent in marketing, youth culture, and casual speech than in official or academic contexts. Native German speakers typically choose equivalent German verbs to convey precision and formality.

See also: Anglicisms in the German language; Leistung, Durchführung, Ausführung; Performance (Kunst).