Verbs do and make they tend to be confused with each other by their definition, since they both mean “to do”. However, there are a series of actions that always accompany the verb do, while other activities are used through the verb make. In OneHowTo we have classified them to illustrate you about what is the difference between do and make in English.
DO:
The verb do means “to do” and is generally used for actions or jobs. Do is used to talk about work, tasks, actions and activities. What’s more, do You can act as an auxiliary verb in the present tense to ask questions, for example: Do you like my dress? (Do you like my dress?) Or Does he want to come to the cafe? (Does he want to come to the cafeteria?) The verb forms of do are:
- Present: Do / does
- Gerund: Doing
- Past Participle: donate
- Past: Did
MAKE:
The verb make means “to make, elaborate, produce or create something with the hands”. Therefore, we can intuit that make is used to refer to the construction, creation and elaboration. It is also used to make decisions, to say that something produces a sound, for food preparation, among others. Its forms are:
- Present: Make / makes
- Gerund: Making
- Past Participle: Made
- Past: Made
However, these rules of meanings are not always respected, so it is essential to study the following lists to properly learn when to use make and when to use do. There are other expressions with these verbs, but we will show you some of the most common and useful.
We use the verb make to talk of Cook:
- Make a cup of tea
- Make food
- Make a cake
- Make some bread
- Make breakfast
- Make lunch
- Make dinner
From creation or elaboration:
- Make a film
- Make a jacket
From Verbal communication or sounds:
- Make a comment
- Make a speech
- Make a phone call
- Make a joke
- Make a lot of noise
From decisions:
- Make up your mind
- Make a choice
- Make a decision
From intangible things:
- Make a plan
- Make an arrangement
- Make an appointment
- Make and effort
- Make a progress
- Make a complaint
- Make a suggestion
- Make a mistake
From money:
- Make a profit
- Make money
- Make a deal
Others:
- Make a mess
- Make the bed
- Make a journey
- Make a fool of someone
- Make a visit
- Make friends
- Make a move