To Do versus To Make
Have you ever been confused about the difference between the verbs to do and to make?
Today we’re going to be learning about the differences between these two verbs.
Definition: To Do vs. To Make
To do means to perform an action, task, or chore (do the dishes, do the laundry, etc.) To make
means to create or construct something (make a cake, make dinner). But,
like everything in English, there are exceptions to every rule.
For example, the verb to make
has variant meanings, but rather than trying to memorize these, it is
best to remember the words that the verb to make is paired with; in
linguistics, this is known as collocating.
A collocation is a word pairing. It is the habit of using certain words together. Here are examples of the verb to make and the nouns commonly paired with it:
-
make a donation
J.P. Morgan made a huge donation to the New York City Police Foundation.
- make friends
She made friends with her new neighbor.
-
make money
He makes money working on Wall Street.
-
make a noise
Each time I walk in these shoes, they make a loud squeaking noise.
-
make an appointment
I made a doctor’s appointment for next week.
As you can see in the sentence
examples above, the verb to make does not mean to create or construct.
Nevertheless, these collocations/word pairings are extremely common in
American English.
To Make versus To Do
To Do
-
do business (WITH a company or a person)
We did business with that company two years ago.
-
do housework
She did the housework before going out to dinner with her friends.
-
do the ironing
Karen does the ironing in the evening.
-
do the laundry
He will do the laundry this Sunday after the football game.
-
do the dishes
We always do the dishes after we eat dinner.
-
do a favor (FOR someone)
He did a big favor for her because she asked him to.
-
do research (ON something)
She is a university student doing research on global economics.
To Make
-
make a donation (TO someone or something)
J.P. Morgan made a donation to the New York City Police Foundation.
-
make a mistake/make an error
He made a mistake on his homework assignment, but I helped him correct it.
-
make friends (WITH someone)
She made friends with her new neighbor that just moved in next door.
-
make money (VERB + ING)
He makes money working on Wall Street.
-
make a noise
Each time I walk in these shoes, they make a noise.
-
make peace/make war
After years of fighting, they stopped making war and finally decided to make peace.
-
make a plan (TO + VERB)
They made plans to visit San Francisco in October.
-
make a promise (to someone) OR make a promise (to do something)
He made a promise to visit her over the holidays.
-
make a speech
President Obama made a speech last night.
-
make a comparison (between someone or something)
She always makes comparisons between herself and her sister.
-
make a decision
They made the decision to move to New York City.
-
make dinner
They made dinner together last night.
-
make an appointment
I made an appointment at the dentist for next week.
-
make arrangements
They made arrangements to have the birthday party at a restaurant.
-
make a difference
This charity makes a difference in the lives of children that it serves.
-
make an effort
He always makes an effort to improve his English, and it shows!
-
make an excuse
Whenever we invite her to dinner, she makes an excuse about why she cannot come.
-
make a fortune
Donald Trump makes a fortune in real estate.
-
make a mess
The children made a mess while they were playing.
-
make a phone call
He made a phone call to his parents to see how they were doing.
-
make a profit
We all hope the business will make a profit this year.
-
make a promise
She made a promise to him.
-
make a suggestion
He made suggestions to them about how to improve their company’s image.
-
make time
He made time to study and improve his English.
