German

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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Not +‎ tun

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): [ˈnoːtˌtuːn]
  • Audio:(file)
  • Hyphenation: not‧tun

Verb

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nottun (irregular, third-person singular present tut not, past tense tat not, past participle notgetan, past subjunctive täte not, auxiliary haben)

  1. (formal or regional) to be necessary
    • 1920, Ernst Jünger, In Stahlgewittern:
      Als ich ihn umdrehte, sah ich an einem großen Loch an der Stirn, dass hier keine Hilfe mehr not tat.
      When I turned him over I saw a big hole in his forehead and knew that nothing could help him.

Usage notes

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  • The spelling nottun has been the prescribed spelling since the German spelling reform of 1996 (the Rechtschreibreform) as of 2006. In the affected areas, the previous spelling (not tun) is now less common, and may be regarded as a misspelling.

Conjugation

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Further reading

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  • nottun” in Duden online
  • nottun” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache