FluencyLab
GrammarHub
Use do mainly for tasks, work and activities, and make mainly for creating, producing, preparing or causing something; learn common collocations.
Overview
Use do mainly for tasks, work and activities, and make mainly for creating, producing, preparing or causing something; learn common collocations.
Form and rules
Use do with work and tasks: do homework, do housework, do a job.
Use make when creating or producing: make a cake, make a plan.
Use make with meals and drinks: make dinner, make coffee.
Many expressions are fixed collocations: do your best, make a mistake, make a decision.
When unsure, learn the noun together with do or make rather than translating directly from another language.
A closer look
Many expressions are fixed collocations: do your best, make a mistake, make a decision.
When unsure, learn the noun together with do or make rather than translating directly from another language.
Examples
I need to do my homework.
She made a cake for us.
We made a decision yesterday.
Please do your best.
I made a mistake in the report.
Common mistakes
Household tasks such as the washing-up use do.
The fixed collocation is make a mistake.
Ready to practise?
The test combines multiple choice, gap completion, error correction, and sentence building so students have to recognise and produce the grammar, not simply reread the rule.