verb
to perform, to afford
B1
Leisten primarily means 'to perform' or 'to provide', and reflexively 'sich etwas leisten' means 'to afford something'. It is a regular weak verb, non-separable, with past participle geleistet and uses haben as auxiliary. Reflexive pattern: dative reflexive pronoun + accusative object when meaning 'to afford'.
Examples
Ich leiste gute Arbeit.
I do good work.
Die Firma leistete finanzielle Hilfe, damit die Gemeinde das Projekt beginnen konnte.
The company provided financial assistance so that the municipality could start the project.
Er leistete einen wichtigen Beitrag.
He made an important contribution.
Details
Mnemonics
Imagine a mechanic ticking off tasks on a list when he performs work — 'leisten' = do/perform
sounds like 'lay-sten' — think 'lay down the task' to perform it
Notes
As a verb, 'leisten' is commonly used in compounds (e.g., 'Leistung erbringen') and reflexively in the phrase 'sich etwas leisten' (to afford something). The personal passive exists only in transitive contexts and is relatively uncommon for many typical uses; passive forms in the table are therefore marked as rare/colloquial.