Verb Collocations
“Do”
&
“Make”
By:
Mubarak Abdessalami
TEACHERS!
In case we want to teach our students word associations or collocations for theenrichment of their target language repertoire, I guess we have first to broach thecollocations made up from the verbs «do» and «make» because they are very oftenconfused and confusing. If there are any word associations that need suchattentiveness and intensive concentrated practice will surely be the cases in which«do» and «make» are used to describe actions. Both of them work better and moreauthentically than each other because none of them dare replace the other in anydomain supervised, predominated and controlled by each one of them. This is said, wehave to take it for granted that both of the verbs almost describe the same action. Itis this similarity between them which makes it imperative for us -teachers- to showour students the right use for the right reason of the word combinations with theverbs «to do» and «to make»"We'll
make
dinner provided that you
do
the dishes".Never can 'do' venture to do the job of 'make' or otherwise 'make' can makeany choice concerning the job 'do' does. I simply mean that the verbs 'to do' and 'tomake' have already made their decisions about the actions each of both has to handle.In the law of grammar, it is a transgression of the treaty of collocations to sayfor instance,- Everybody does mistakes.*- Everybody should make his best.*None of the two sentences are tolerated by the rules of collocation and norespectful language user would «make such mistakes».We -all of us- have to
do
our students a favour by
making
an extra effort so asto
make
progress noticeable.
1
STUDENTS!
You are learning English as a foreign language so you are supposed to be facedwith the challenge of using the right word combination for both 'make' and 'do'. Don'tforget that your mother language -with all its heavy cultural background- will affect your understanding of this duality of expressing the performance, accomplishment orexertion of an act or a deed in the English language. 'Make' and 'do' express the samething but each one is used irreplaceably in combination with particular actions.It is easy but you need to continuously practice them so that these crucialdetails stick in your head. The following table will show you some frequent uses of theword combinations with both do and make. These collocations have to be learnt quitecuriously so as not to be confused and therefore confusing. Don't forget that nativespeakers wouldn't understand you if it happens that you misused the combination.
Do
+ the shopping+ work+ homework+ housework+ the cleaning+ the cooking+ the laundry+ the salad+ the dishes+ gardening+ something+ nothing+ a good job+ business+ errands+ a favour+ a puzzle+ exercise+ an exercise+ science (at school)+ the washing+ the washing up+ a quiz
2
+ a text+ good+ harm+ well+ fine+ wisely+ your best
Make
+ progress+ a mess+ furniture+ trouble+ war+ peace+ a change+ plans+ arrangements+ a telephone call+ a deal+ a scene+ an effort+ an excuse+ a mistake+ a noise+ trouble+ a phone call+ a journey+ an offer+ a suggestion+ a speech+ a decision+ a choice+ the bed+ a dress+ money+ a fortune+ a profit+ friends+ food+ a meal
3
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