Speaking
Make/Do Questions or Statements
20-01-2016
'Make' or 'Do'?
It can be hard to decide when to use 'make' or 'do' in English. Here's some help.
1: We use 'make' when we create or construct something. For example:
She made a cake.
I've made us some coffee.
Did you really make those trousers?
2: We use 'do' for general activities. In this case, 'do' is often used with 'something', 'nothing', 'anything' or 'everything':
What did you do at the weekend?
I didn't do anything yesterday.
She's fed up with doing everything herself. She needs some help.
Are you doing anything interesting during the holidays?
NOTE: 'What do you do?' means 'what's your job?'
3: There are many, many fixed expressions with 'make' and 'do'. Unfortunately, they don't really follow any useful rules, so you have to learn them. Sorry!
Choose the right forms of make or do given in brackets to complete the sentences given below:
1. What do you [do /make] for a living?
2. Have you [done/ made] your homework yet?
3. Have you [done/ made] a decision yet?
4. Amber [did/ made] badly in her geography exam.
5. The children [did/ made] a mess in the kitchen.
6. We are having guests tonight, so please [did/ made] your bed.
7. I only [do/make] one mistake in my English test.
8. I'd like to ask you to [do/ make] me a favor.
9. My husband [does/makes] the grocery shopping.
10. Please excuse me while I [do/ make] a phone call.
Posted By: Noble Augustine Category: Speaking
About Noble Augustine
An English teacher in Canada Mr. Noble Augustine is currently working with Calgary Catholic Immigration Society. He started his career as a teacher in English in 2001 after completing his M A in English from St. Berchmans College, Changanacherry .He secured the first rank for M Phil from School of Letters, Mahathma Gandhi University in 2003. His subjects of interest are Theory and Practice of Translation, Modern and Postmodern poetry, Postcolonial Writing, Literary theory, and Communicative English. He has presnted many academic papers in various national and international seminars. Gothic Romance: Emile Bronte's Wuthering Heights, Moby Dick: A study in Megalomania, The Comic Paradise: A Rereading of Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Ernest, Politics and Geography in the Poetry of Kamala Das, The politics of Deconstruction, Rasa and Dhwani: the Essence of Eastern Aesthetics, The Trend of Multi-generic Parody in Malayalam Fiction:A Reading of Contemporary Short Stories in Malayalam. Facilitation Techniques for Adult Language Teaching etc, to name a few. He has translated into English Aalakampadi (The Escort) a novel by B Murali, a well-known writer in Kerala, India . He worked as lecturer in English in two Libyan Universities: Omar al Mokhtar University, and University of Bengazi , where he also chaired the committee of Quality Assurance, Assessment and Accreditation. He guided and supervised the dissertation of Undergraduate Students and chaired the Viva Voce Examination. . He has also trained, supervised and assessed teacher education students in their practical teaching. In 2011 he obtained his certificate as a Teacher of English as a Second Langauge from Oxford Seminars. He spends his free time in volunteering as the Financial Secretary of Knights of Columbus and as the president of St.Mary's Family Unit in the parish of Mother Teresa Syro Malabar Church, Calgary, Alberta.
