Make vs Do
Make and do are two of the most commonly confused verbs in English. Both can be translated by a single verb in many other languages, which is why choosing between them in English collocations is one of the trickiest challenges for learners at A2 and B1 levels. This lesson covers all the essential make and do collocations — from everyday home routines to work, study, and abstract expressions — with clear examples and make vs do exercises with answers.
Two tendencies to guide you:
| Tendency | Use | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| DO | Routine tasks, activities, and processes — carrying something out | do the cleaning, do homework, do damage |
| MAKE | Creating a result, product, or communication act | make dinner, make a decision, make a speech |
These are tendencies, not absolute rules. Many collocations don't fit neatly into either category, which is why grouping and memorising them by topic is the most reliable strategy. This lesson organises all key make and do collocations into three topic groups — home, work/study, and abstract — so you can build your vocabulary systematically.
Note: "do" as a main verb vs as an auxiliary verb
This lesson covers make and do as main verbs in collocations (e.g., do your homework, make a cake). This is completely different from "do" as an auxiliary verb used to form questions and negatives (e.g., Do you like it? She doesn't work here.). If you need help with auxiliary do/does/did, see Verb to do.
Note: have and take also form collocations
English uses several verbs in fixed phrases: have a meeting, take a decision (British English), have a shower, take a photo. In this lesson, we focus exclusively on make and do. You will see have and take as distractors in the exercises — knowing they don't fit here is part of the learning.
Make and Do Collocations: Home & Daily Routines
In everyday home life, do is the default verb for chores and cleaning tasks. Make is used for cooking and preparing food, and for a few fixed phrases about creating situations (noise, a mess, a fuss).
DO: Household Chores & Tasks
Use do for most cleaning, tidying, and routine household activities.
| Collocation | Example |
|---|---|
| do the cleaning | She does all the cleaning herself. |
| do the laundry | He does the laundry every weekend. |
| do the shopping | Who usually does the shopping in your family? |
| do the ironing | I don't mind doing the ironing. |
| do the dishes | Please do the dishes after lunch. |
| do the washing-up | I did the washing-up while my sister dried the plates. |
| do the housework | We must do the housework before going out. |
| do the vacuuming | Can you do the vacuuming while I clean the bathroom? |
| do the cooking | Who does the cooking in your house? |
| do the gardening | I need to do some gardening this afternoon. |
| do the dusting | We did all the dusting and polishing before the visitors came. |
Pattern: do + the + [activity noun] is typical for household tasks. The "the" signals it's a specific, routine activity.
MAKE: Food, Drinks & Creating Situations
Use make for preparing food and drinks, and for phrases where something new is produced or caused.
| Collocation | Example |
|---|---|
| make the bed | I always make the bed as soon as I wake up. |
| make breakfast / dinner / lunch | She makes breakfast for the children every morning. |
| make a cup of coffee / tea | Can you make me a cup of coffee? |
| make a cake / salad | He is making a cake for her birthday. |
| make a mess | The children made a terrible mess in the living room. |
| make noise | They made a lot of noise during the party. |
| make a fuss | He made a big fuss about the restaurant bill. |
⚠️ Watch Out: make the bed — not "do the bed"
The single most common home-routine error is "do the bed". The correct collocation is make the bed (= arrange the sheets and covers). Unlike other bedroom/home tasks that use do, "make the bed" is fixed.
| ❌ Incorrect | ✅ Correct |
|---|---|
| I need to do the bed. | I need to make the bed. |
| She did breakfast for us. | She made breakfast for us. |
| They did a lot of noise. | They made a lot of noise. |
👉 Practice make and do exercises: home & daily routines →
Make and Do in Work and Study
At work and in academic contexts, do covers tasks, assignments, and activities — things you carry out. Make covers communication acts — things you say, arrange, or commit to.
DO: Tasks, Activities & Efforts
| Collocation | Example |
|---|---|
| do homework | I need to do my homework before dinner. |
| do a project | The students have to do a project on climate change. |
| do a course | He did a first-aid course at work last month. |
| do business | They want to do business with our company. |
| do someone a favour | Could you do me a favour and send this email? |
| do work | We need to do some work on the garden this weekend. |
| do your best | He always does his best at work. |
| do a good/bad job | He did a terrible job on the presentation. |
| do your hair | He did his hair carefully before the job interview. |
| do your nails | She does her nails every week at the salon. |
MAKE: Communication, Commitments & Arrangements
| Collocation | Example |
|---|---|
| make a speech | She made a long speech at the wedding. |
| make a phone call | He has to make a phone call. Can you wait? |
| make a suggestion | The manager made a suggestion to improve the process. |
| make a complaint | She made a complaint about the noise to the landlord. |
| make comments | The teacher made some important comments about our essays. |
| make an excuse | She made an excuse for being late to the meeting. |
| make a reservation | I need to make a reservation for the restaurant. |
| make an appointment | You should make an appointment with the dentist. |
| make a promise | She made a promise to help us with the project. |
| make a joke | She made a joke and everyone laughed. |
Pattern for MAKE in communication: Notice that almost all communication-act collocations use make: make a speech, make a phone call, make a complaint, make a suggestion, make a promise. When you're producing words or commitments, make is almost always correct.
👉 Practice make and do exercises: work & study →
Make and Do: Decisions, Progress & Abstract Collocations
At B1 level, make and do collocations become more abstract — expressions about effort, change, and results. This is where learners make the most errors, because the tendencies from earlier sections seem to break down. Pay special attention to the error hot zone below.
DO: Outcomes, Performance & Moral Actions
| Collocation | Example |
|---|---|
| do damage | The storm did a lot of damage to the houses. |
| do harm | The new policy did more harm than good. |
| do good | We should all try to do good in the world. |
| do well | He did really well in his final exams. |
| do the right thing | I think we should do the right thing and tell the truth. |
| do nothing / something / everything | The children did nothing all afternoon. |
MAKE: Decisions, Progress & Results
| Collocation | Example |
|---|---|
| make a decision | You need to make a decision soon. |
| make up your mind | I can't make up my mind about which university to choose. |
| make progress | Regular practice will help you make progress. |
| make an effort | He made a big effort to arrive on time. |
| make a mistake | She made a terrible mistake on the exam. |
| make sure | Please make sure you lock the door when you leave. |
| make a difference | Small actions can make a big difference. |
| make a fortune / make money | He made a fortune selling his tech company. |
| make plans | They are making plans for their summer holiday. |
| make friends | She makes friends easily wherever she goes. |
| make fun of | Stop making fun of your little brother! |
| make a living | She wants to make a living as a freelance writer. |
| make an impression | His presentation made a great impression on the audience. |
| make a list | She made a list of everything she needed to buy. |
⚠️ Error Hot Zone: The 5 Counterintuitive Collocations
These five collocations are where learners consistently choose the wrong verb — because the "wrong" answer feels right based on the tendency rules. Memorise these individually.
| Collocation | ❌ Common Error | ✅ Correct | Why it surprises learners |
|---|---|---|---|
| do damage | make damage | do damage | "Creating damage" feels like it should be make |
| do harm | make harm | do harm | Same logic: harm is produced, but the verb is do |
| make a mistake | do a mistake | make a mistake | Feels like a task/activity → do, but it's make |
| make progress | do progress | make progress | Progress is an activity → do, but English says make |
| make a decision | do a decision | make a decision | Deciding feels like doing something → do, but it's make |
👉 Practice make and do exercises: decisions & abstract collocations →
Make vs Do in Different Tenses
Once you know which collocations take make and which take do, you also need to use the correct form depending on the tense. The table below shows the most important forms.
Key Forms at a Glance
| Tense / Form | DO | MAKE |
|---|---|---|
| Present simple | do / does | make / makes |
| Past simple | did | made |
| Past participle | done | made |
| Present continuous | doing | making |
| Past perfect | had done | had made |
Examples in Different Tenses
| Collocation | Present | Past | Present Perfect | Continuous |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| do homework | I do my homework. | I did my homework. | Have you done your homework yet? | I was doing the homework when... |
| do the shopping | She does the shopping. | She did the shopping. | He hasn't done the shopping yet. | Were you doing the shopping? |
| make a decision | She makes a decision. | She made a decision. | She hasn't made a decision yet. | She was making a decision. |
| make plans | They make plans. | They made plans. | They have made plans. | They were making plans when... |
| make a mistake | He makes a mistake. | He made a mistake. | She has never made a mistake. | He was making a mistake. |
| do damage | It does damage. | The storm did damage. | The flood has done damage. | — |
Key distinction: In the present perfect and past perfect, the forms are:
- do → done: Have you done the washing-up?
- make → made: She has made a lot of progress.
These forms are irregular, so getting the base collocation right (do or make) automatically gives you the right participle.
👉 Practice mixed make vs do exercises with all tenses →
Common Mistakes to Avoid
| ❌ Incorrect | ✅ Correct | Explanation |
|---|---|---|
| I need to do the bed. | I need to make the bed. | Make the bed is the fixed collocation for tidying bedcovers. Unlike other household tasks, this one uses make. |
| She did a mistake on the test. | She made a mistake on the test. | Make a mistake is always make, not do. This is the single most common make/do error. |
| The earthquake made a lot of damage. | The earthquake did a lot of damage. | Do damage and do harm both use do, even though damage/harm are "created" results. |
| We're making business with a new partner. | We're doing business with a new partner. | Do business is fixed. Business is an activity/process → do. |
| He did a lot of progress this year. | He made a lot of progress this year. | Make progress is always make, even though progress feels like activity. |
| Could you make me a favour? | Could you do me a favour? | Do someone a favour is the fixed collocation. |
| She made a first-aid course last month. | She did a first-aid course last month. | Courses, projects, and assignments all use do — they're tasks to be carried out. |
| Have you made the washing-up? | Have you done the washing-up? | All cleaning/chore collocations use do, not make. Do the washing-up is fixed. |
Quick Summary
Home & Daily Routines
| DO (chores & tasks) | MAKE (food, drinks & situations) |
|---|---|
| do the cleaning | make the bed |
| do the laundry | make breakfast / lunch / dinner |
| do the shopping | make a cup of coffee / tea |
| do the ironing | make a cake / salad |
| do the dishes / washing-up | make a mess |
| do the housework | make noise |
| do the vacuuming | make a fuss |
| do the cooking | |
| do the gardening | |
| do the dusting |
Work, Study & Communication
| DO (tasks & activities) | MAKE (communication & commitments) |
|---|---|
| do homework | make a speech |
| do a project | make a phone call |
| do a course | make a suggestion |
| do business | make a complaint |
| do someone a favour | make comments |
| do your best | make an excuse |
| do a good / bad job | make a reservation |
| do your hair / nails | make an appointment |
| do work | make a promise |
| make a joke |
Decisions, Progress & Abstract
| DO (outcomes & performance) | MAKE (decisions & results) |
|---|---|
| do damage ❗ | make a decision ❗ |
| do harm ❗ | make a mistake ❗ |
| do good | make progress ❗ |
| do well | make an effort |
| do the right thing | make sure |
| do nothing / something | make a difference |
| make a fortune / make money | |
| make plans | |
| make friends | |
| make a living | |
| make an impression | |
| make a list | |
| make fun of | |
| make up your mind |
❗ = counterintuitive collocation — the opposite verb feels natural to many learners.
Practice Tips
1. Group by category, not by rule Don't try to memorise individual collocations one at a time. Learn by group: "home chores = do", "food preparation = make", "communication acts = make". Rehearse the full tables, not isolated phrases.
2. Flag the counterintuitive five The five error hot zone collocations (do damage, do harm, make a mistake, make progress, make a decision) are the most commonly tested in make vs do exercises online and in exams. Write them on a card and review them separately from the rest.
3. Use the communication shortcut When you're talking about something you say or commit to, the answer is almost always make: make a speech, make a call, make a complaint, make a suggestion, make a promise, make an excuse. This shortcut catches about 10 collocations in one rule.
4. Test yourself with "the + activity noun" If the phrase is "do + the + [noun]", it's almost always a chore or task: do the cleaning, do the shopping, do the ironing. If there's no "the", check the tables above carefully.
5. Learn the tense forms in context Don't just practise the base form. Use the mixed review set to practise done and made (past participles) and doing and making (continuous forms) in real sentence contexts — these forms appear in exams and everyday conversation constantly.
Practice All Exercises
Complete 80 make and do exercises with answers across 4 progressive sets — from do vs make exercises with everyday collocations at A2 level to abstract and mixed-tense make or do exercises at B1 level. All make and do exercises are available online in multiple choice format, or as printable make and do exercises PDF worksheets for every set.
| Set | Topic | Level | Questions | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Set 1 | make or do: Everyday Collocations — Home & Daily Routines | A2 | 20 | 12 min |
| Set 2 | make or do: Work, Study & Communication Collocations | A2 | 20 | 12 min |
| Set 3 | make vs do: Decisions, Progress & Abstract Collocations | B1 | 20 | 15 min |
| Set 4 | Mixed Make vs Do Review (All Collocations & Tenses) | B1 | 20 | 15 min |
Total: 80 do and make exercises with answers across 4 progressive sets — from do vs make exercises at A2 to collocations with make and do exercises at B1. All make and do exercises are available online in multiple choice format, or as make or do exercises PDF worksheets and do and make exercises PDF for every set.