You all know that feeling…
You are talking in English, which is not your first language, and suddenly you want to express the concept of hacer (if you are a Spanish speaker), faire (if your first language is French) or machen (if you were born in a German-speaking country) or any other verb which translates as make or do in English.
And therein lies the problem. Which verb do you use?
Most languages have one verb to cover everything.
English has two.
SHOCK! HORROR!
Oh, and you have about 1 second to decide which one is the right one in every situation.
You have a 50:50 chance of seeming like a native speaker or alternatively looking like a bit of a fool.
So, using them is actually quite uncomfortable, really. I mean, you’d do just about anything to know when to use each one correctly, wouldn´t you?
Let me help.
On a very basic level, to do is used for repetitive or obligatory actions. The word action is the key. We are often focusing on the action when we use to do.
While, to make is used to describe the construction, creation or production of items, where the result of the action is more important than the action.
On a very, VERY basic leve, to do is general and to make more specific.
For several years, I taught a group of wonderful students at an engineering company in Madrid. They were smart, educated and motivated. They really wanted to learn and make and do really bugged them. As engineers, they felt there must be a system or some kind of logic to make and do.
“No! No! NO!” I responded. “You have to learn these verbs case by case, and that’s all there is to it.” End of story. But they insisted.
And I was being paid to teach them, so I did some further research.
What follows is what I discovered.
MAKE and DO divided into engineer-friendly “categories”.
DO
HOUSEHOLD TASKS
When working at home, you will be using the verb to do. You (or your cleaner) will do the dishes, do the washing, do the vacuuming, do the cooking, do the dusting and you might even do the gardening or the shopping. What you will NOT do is “the beds”, because this household task is an exception.
EXCEPTION #1: TO MAKE THE BEDS
SCHOOL AND STUDY
You go to school because you want to do a class, a degree, a Masters or even (if you are very brainy) a PhD. You might do homework or do coursework. When you finish doing a course, you might have to do an assessment or a full-blown exam. You might even have to do a dissertation or thesis. It’s almost as much work as reading all about make and do.
GOOD AND BAD
In very general terms, when we talk about the adjectives of good and bad and anything connected to either concept we use do. We can do good or do a good deed if we help somebody with a difficult situation. We do better when we improve and when we make a huge effort and try our hardest, we do our best. Conversely, we can do harm or damage by deliberately destroying or spoiling something or hurting a person or animal. If you do badly, you are not as successful as you had hoped. And that, my friend, sucks!
IMPROVING YOUR PHYSICAL APPEARANCE
Let’s make this short and simple.
You do you hair.
You do you make-up.
You do you nails.
You do exercise, weights or even a workout.
MAKE
FOOD AND DRINK
The action of preparing food is described with the verb to do the cooking. But, as we’ve seen, the result is described with the verb to make. So, we make pizzas, salads, cocktails, coffees and cakes. We also make breakfast, lunch, dinner and supper and any snacks we might eat in between meals.
COMMUNICATION
There are so many ways to communicate nowadays. The good news is that we almost always use the verb make when we do. On a very basic level we can make noise. If we use words, we can make a comment, a complaint or an observation. Politicians make speeches and promises. Disgraced politicians make statements, as do disgraced sportspeople, businesspeople or celebrities. Comedians often make jokes. Some of them make fun of other famous people. If they go too far, the other famous people’s lawyers make a few phone calls. And then the comedians make an apology.
MONEY
I’m not going to lie, it all comes down to money.
Or hard cash.
So, we make money. Companies try to make a profit and to avoid making a loss.
If you are very successful at selling, you can make a killing. That is, make a lot of money.
PLANS AND PROGRESS
If you make plans and you stick to them and they are good plans, you should, in theory
make progress. To be a good planner, you need to make decisions or even difficult choices. If you are travelling, you need to make arrangements, bookings and reservations. If you see that things are not turning out quite as you expected you might need to make changes or make amendments.
There is even a phrasal verb which combines both of these verbs.
Let me introduce you to to make do with, a verb which indicates that a person manages with or uses something even when it is not quite enough. Perhaps, if you didn’t have any sugar for your coffee you would make do with honey or saccharine. Or, horror of horrors, if there weren't any milk, you might make do with powdered milk. If you couldn’t find a taxi you might make do with a bus, or a rickshaw in the worst-case scenario.
I hope that you are clearer on when to use make and do now. For regular updates and freebies, subscribe to my mailing list at the very bottom of this website. Thank you for reading.
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