Placeholder Image

Subtitles section Play video

  • Hi, Cambly learners, my name is Lia and I am a tutor here on Cambly.

  • This morning, I made myself a cup of coffee to get the day started, and now I have to do some teaching, which brings us to the topic of today: 'make' versus 'do'.

  • These two verbs are easily confused by beginner English speakers because in most languages these two verbs are combined and only one verb is used.

  • So, it's important to understand the difference between these two so that when you're speaking, you can sound more like a native.

  • So, what is the difference?

  • Let's start with 'make'.

  • 'Make' is used for producing, uh, building, constructing, or creating something.

  • It also shows the origin of something or what material was used to make it.

  • For example, 'coffee is made from coffee beans', so coffee beans is what produces the coffee or what is the origin of the coffee.

  • 'Her ring is made from gold.'

  • Gold is the material that was used to make her ring.

  • 'Make' can also be used to 'produce an action or a reaction'.

  • 'Onions will definitely make your eyes water', so the action that happens from cutting onions is that your eyes start to water.

  • 'You make me happy.'

  • I am reacting to something you said or did.

  • We also use 'make' before nouns 'talking about plans or decisions'.

  • For example: 'We made arrangements to leave work early.'

  • 'Have you made any plans for the weekend?'

  • 'I need to make a decision about my career.'

  • We can also use it with 'nouns about speaking or certain noises'.

  • For example: 'She made a nice comment about my dress.'

  • That means she spoke to me and she complimented my dress.

  • 'The baby sleeping is sleeping, shhh.'

  • 'Don't make any noise.'

  • 'Don't make a promise that you can't keep.'

  • That means don't say or speak something that you do not intend to follow through on.

  • 'Make' is used for 'food, drinks, and other meals'.

  • For example: 'I need to start making dinner' or 'make breakfast' or 'make lunch'.

  • 'She is making a cup of coffee, or 'make a cup of tea or hot chocolate.'

  • 'He is making a sandwich.'

  • Finally, 'make is also used 'to force someone to do something'.

  • 'My mom made me go to bed early', so my mom forced me to go to bed early.

  • 'The teacher made the students memorize the verbs,' so the teacher forced the students.

  • Now, let's look at 'do'.

  • 'Do' is used for 'work, jobs, and tasks'.

  • For example: 'Have you done your homework?'

  • 'I need to do some housework.'

  • 'I would not like to do her job.'

  • 'Do' is also used for 'non-specific activities' when we're just speaking in general, and it's usually paired with words like 'thing', 'something', 'nothing', 'anything', 'everything', et cetera.

  • For example: 'Hurry up, I have things to do.'

  • 'Don't just stand there, do something.'

  • 'Is there anything I can do to help?'

  • You'll notice that in all these previous sentences, I did not specify what needed to be done or what should be done.

  • 'Do' is also used to 'replace verbs' when the meaning is clear and obvious.

  • For example: 'Do I need to do my hair?'

  • In this example, it could mean, do I need to brush my hair or comb or fix my hair?

  • 'I'll do the kitchen if you do the living room.'

  • Here, it could mean I'll clean the kitchen if you vacuum the living room.

  • 'Do' is also use specifically with these words:

  • 'Well', 'badly', 'good', 'bad', 'best', and 'worst'.

  • For example: 'I'm pleased I did well on my exam.'

  • Or: 'I'm disappointed, I did badly on my exam.'

  • Or: 'Ooh, I did bad with my diet over the holidays.'

  • 'I will need to exercise.'

  • Or: 'I did good and ate healthy over the holidays.'

  • 'Remember, just do your best in the race.'

  • 'Of course, nobody wants to do their worst in the race.'

  • Okay, Cambly learners, it's time to practice.

  • I will give you some sentences with the verb missing, and you have to decide if it's 'do' or 'make'.

  • Are you ready?

  • Let's go.

  • Okay, first one.

  • She is going to [blank] a cake for his birthday.

  • That is correct.

  • Remember that we use 'make' when we talk about food or creating something.

  • Okay, number two.

  • He will [blank] anything for his mother.

  • That is correct.

  • Remember, we use 'do' for nonspecific activities, so he will do anything for his mother.

  • Number three.

  • You need to [blank[ the dishes.

  • Correct again.

  • You need to 'do' the dishes, because that is a chore or a task.

  • Okay, and the last one.

  • We need to [blank] a decision about the house.

  • Very good, excellent.

  • We need to 'make' a decision about the house.

  • We use 'make' for talking about plans and decisions.

  • Excellent, well done, Cambly learners.

  • Thumbs up.

  • For those of you who are unfamiliar with Cambly, it is a platform where you can practice your speaking skills with friendly, native tutors like myself.

  • You can schedule a class from, uh, your laptop or your phone or any device.

  • You can schedule it any time, anywhere.

  • So, please feel free to schedule your next class with me, Lia, at the link below.

  • Thank you and goodbye.

Hi, Cambly learners, my name is Lia and I am a tutor here on Cambly.

Subtitles and vocabulary

Click the word to look it up Click the word to find further inforamtion about it