Category: Make or do?

Let’s be honest, sometimes English can be confusing.  Sometimes when learning English it is easy to mix up words or be unsure when to use them.

I often hear German speakers who are learning English make mistakes with the words ‘make’ and ‘do’.  Often (but not always) it is because the German word ‘machen’ is mistranslated.

There are many phrases and expressions that exist in English where there is no real rule to help you remember the difference between ‘make’ and ‘do’.  You just have to learn them.  Sorry!

Take a look at the examples below.  Hopefully they will make things clearer for you.

 

Do the shopping.

E.g.  I’ll do the shopping after work.  We need milk, eggs, cheese and bread.

 

Make a reservation.

E.g.  I’ll call the restaurant this evening and make a reservation for Saturday evening.

 

Make trouble.

E.g.  A man in my department is always trying to make trouble.  He regularly tells the boss bad things about his colleagues.

 

Have fun learning English!

Louise

Let’s be honest, sometimes English can be confusing.  Sometimes when learning English it is easy to mix up words or be unsure when to use them.

I often hear German speakers who are learning English make mistakes with the words ‘make’ and ‘do’.  Often (but not always) it is because the German word ‘machen’ is mistranslated.

There are many phrases and expressions that exist in English where there is no real rule to help you remember the difference between ‘make’ and ‘do’.  You just have to learn them.  Sorry!

Take a look at the examples below.  Hopefully they will make things clearer for you.

 

Do an exam.

E.g.  She has to do several exams at the end of the school term.

 

Make certain.

E.g.  I think the train leaves at 10.30 but let’s make certain by checking online.  I don’t want to miss it!

 

Make a fortune.

E.g.  They made an absolute fortune when they sold their very successful company.  Now they don’t need to work.

 

Have fun learning English!

Louise

Let’s be honest, sometimes English can be confusing.  Sometimes when learning English it is easy to mix up words or be unsure when to use them.

I often hear German speakers who are learning English make mistakes with the words ‘make’ and ‘do’.  Often (but not always) it is because the German word ‘machen’ is mistranslated.

There are many phrases and expressions that exist in English where there is no real rule to help you remember the difference between ‘make’ and ‘do’.  You just have to learn them.  Sorry!

Take a look at the examples below.  Hopefully they will make things clearer for you.

 

Do time.  ( = to be in prison.)

E.g.  He was caught by the police after robbing a bank and now he is doing time.

 

Make a decision.

E.g.  I’ve finally made my decision.  I’m going to take the job in London.

 

Make an error.

E.g.  She made several errors in the report so her boss told her to write it again.

 

Have fun learning English!

Louise

Let’s be honest, sometimes English can be confusing.  Sometimes when learning English it is easy to mix up words or be unsure when to use them.

I often hear German speakers who are learning English make mistakes with the words ‘make’ and ‘do’.  Often (but not always) it is because the German word ‘machen’ is mistranslated.

There are many phrases and expressions that exist in English where there is no real rule to help you remember the difference between ‘make’ and ‘do’.  You just have to learn them.  Sorry!

Take a look at the examples below.  Hopefully they will make things clearer for you.

 

Do the laundry / the washing.

E.g.  He cleaned the bathroom and did the laundry.

 

Do the ironing.

E.g.  I don’t like doing the ironing.  It’s so boring!

 

Make dinner.

E.g.  I’ve done the housework so you can make dinner.

 

Have fun learning English!

Louise

Let’s be honest, sometimes English can be confusing.  Sometimes when learning English it is easy to mix up words or be unsure when to use them.

I often hear German speakers who are learning English make mistakes with the words ‘make’ and ‘do’.  Often (but not always) it is because the German word ‘machen’ is mistranslated.

There are many phrases and expressions that exist in English where there is no real rule to help you remember the difference between ‘make’ and ‘do’.  You just have to learn them.  Sorry!

Take a look at the examples below.  Hopefully they will make things clearer for you.

 

Make amends.

E.g.  I’m very sorry that what I said upset you so much.  How can I make amends?

 

Make a journey.

E.g.  Please do not make any journeys that are not absolutely essential.  The snow is really deep and the weather is getting worse.

 

Do damage.

E.g.  She was okay after the car accident but a lot of damage was done to her car.

 

Have fun learning English!

Louise

Let’s be honest, sometimes English can be confusing.  Sometimes when learning English it is easy to mix up words or be unsure when to use them.

I often hear German speakers who are learning English make mistakes with the words ‘make’ and ‘do’.  Often (but not always) it is because the German word ‘machen’ is mistranslated.

There are many phrases and expressions that exist in English where there is no real rule to help you remember the difference between ‘make’ and ‘do’.  You just have to learn them.  Sorry!

Take a look at the examples below.  Hopefully they will make things clearer for you.

 

Make a complaint.

E.g.  The food took ages to arrive and it tasted really bad.  I had to make a complaint to the restaurant manager.

 

Make an effort.

E.g.  Come on, you have to try harder than that.  If you want to get good results, you have to make an effort.

 

Do research.

E.g.  I’m going to do as much research as possible before I start writing my thesis.

 

Have fun learning English!

Louise

Let’s be honest, sometimes English can be confusing.  Sometimes when learning English it is easy to mix up words or be unsure when to use them.

I often hear German speakers who are learning English make mistakes with the words ‘make’ and ‘do’.  Often (but not always) it is because the German word ‘machen’ is mistranslated.

There are many phrases and expressions that exist in English where there is no real rule to help you remember the difference between ‘make’ and ‘do’.  You just have to learn them.  Sorry!

Take a look at the examples below.  Hopefully they will make things clearer for you.

 

Do homework.

E.g.  He makes sure the kids do their homework as soon as they get home from school.

 

Do housework.

E.g.  I don’t really like doing housework.  Ironing is particularly boring.

 

Make a mess.

E.g.  Look at the mess you’ve made in the kitchen!  Tidy it up!

 

Have fun learning English!

Louise

Let’s be honest, sometimes English can be confusing.  Sometimes when learning English it is easy to mix up words or be unsure when to use them.

I often hear German speakers who are learning English make mistakes with the words ‘make’ and ‘do’.  Often (but not always) it is because the German word ‘machen’ is mistranslated.

There are many phrases and expressions that exist in English where there is no real rule to help you remember the difference between ‘make’ and ‘do’.  You just have to learn them.  Sorry!

Take a look at the examples below.  Hopefully they will make things clearer for you.

Do 200 kilometres per hour.

E.g.  Some people do over 200 kph on this stretch of motorway.  It’s very dangerous.

Make an appointment.

E.g.  I’d like to make an appointment, please.  Do you have time on Wednesday next week?

Make arrangements.

E.g.  We have a conference in Berlin in September.  Let’s make some arrangements.  I’ll book the hotel.  Can you book the flights?

 

Have fun learning English!

Louise

Let’s be honest, sometimes English can be confusing.  Sometimes when learning English it is easy to mix up words or be unsure when to use them.

I often hear German speakers who are learning English make mistakes with the words ‘make’ and ‘do’.  Often (but not always) it is because the German word ‘machen’ is mistranslated.

There are many phrases and expressions that exist in English where there is no real rule to help you remember the difference between ‘make’ and ‘do’.  You just have to learn them.  Sorry!

Take a look at the examples below.  Hopefully they will make things clearer for you.

Make progress.

E.g.  Things were quite slow for a while but we are finally making some progress and we should be finished by the end of the day.

Do a course.

E.g.  I do several training courses a year to make sure I stay up-to-date with the latest developments in my field.

Do a job.

E.g.  I’ve been doing this job for the last five years.

 

Have fun learning English!

Louise

Let’s be honest, sometimes English can be confusing.  Sometimes when learning English it is easy to mix up words or be unsure when to use them.

I often hear German speakers who are learning English make mistakes with the words ‘make’ and ‘do’.  Often (but not always) it is because the German word ‘machen’ is mistranslated.

There are many phrases and expressions that exist in English where there is no real rule to help you remember the difference between ‘make’ and ‘do’.  You just have to learn them.  Sorry!

Take a look at the examples below.  Hopefully they will make things clearer for you.

 

Do business.

E.g.  It’s been great doing business with you.

We do business internationally.

 

Do work.

E.g.  I’ve done a lot of work on this presentation.

He does a lot of work at weekends.

 

Make money / a profit / a loss.

E.g.  Things are going well.  We made a lot of money last year.

We’ve made a big profit over the last couple of years.

Unfortunately we made a loss in the second half of last year.

 

Have fun learning English!

Louise