To do and to make

The verbs do and make are often confused by nonnative speakers.

• do often has the meaning of “perform a routine or assigned activity.”

• make usually has the sense of producing or creating something.

do your homework

do your best

do business with

do the ironing, washing, cleaning, housework

do the dishes

do exercises

do a favor

do research

do your job

but…
make a donation—make a contribution (in class)

make a mistake--make an error

make friends with

make money

make a noise

make peace—make war

make a plan

make a promise

make a speech
make a turn

make a comparion

make a decision (the British “take” decisions)

make a discovery

and…
To make matters worse, one expression has both! “Make do” means to manage with
what is available. (I couldn’t find any cous cous in the store, so I had to make do with
rice. I can’t afford to buy a new car this year, so I’m going to have to make do with my
old Ford for another year.)

Two idiomatic expressions:

When you ask someone what they do, you are asking what their job is. (I asked Anwar what he does and he
said he works at Dunkin’ Donuts.)

When you ask someone what they make or how much they make, you are asking how much money they
earn. (How much do you make at the doughnut shop?) By the way, it is very rude to ask an American
directly how much they make. You can ask them what they do, but not what they make!

Do or Make
Use a form of do or make to complete these sentences. Remember, both do and make are
irregular verbs:

do does did done doing

make makes made made making
1. It took a long time, but finally the committee _________ the decision to
let Ron stay in school.
2. I’m sorry, I don’t think I can _________ the dishes with this cut on my
hand.
3. When I pointed out that the phone company had misspelled my name, they
apologized for ____________ that mistake.
4. Would you please _______ me a favor and drive me to the dentist.
5. To get to the library, go down this street and ________ a right turn at the
corner.
6. Kinsey got up early and ______ her exercises before breakfast.
7. It was difficult, but after a few weeks in the U.S. Anwar began to
________ a few friends.
8. Don’t _______ promises you can’t keep!
9. Do you know how much Jack _______ at his new job?
10. I didn’t even know he had a new job. What is he _________ now?
11. Prof. Klein was honored for ________ research into deadly diseases.
12. I try to _______ my homework before dinner everyday.
13. My neighbor always yells at my children for _________ noise on Saturday
mornings.
14. Carla always tries to speak in class; she knows she has to _______ a
contribution.
15. I was _________ the dishes when I ________ a discovery: the plastic
dishes don’t float.
16. Your boss will appreciate it if you just _______ your job well.
17. Who _______ the ironing at your house?
18. Which is easier, _________ peace or ________ war?
19. Everyone in the class had to ________ a speech last semester.
20. After you _________ this activity, check with your partner to see if you
________ any errors.

Do or Make
Use a form of do or make to complete these sentences. Remember, both do and make are
irregular verbs:

do does did done doing

make makes made made making
1. It took a long time, but finally the committee _made_ the decision to let
Ron stay in school.
2. I’m sorry, I don’t think I can _do_ the dishes with this cut on my hand.
3. When I pointed out that the phone company had misspelled my name, they
apologized for _making_ that mistake.
4. Would you please _do_ me a favor and drive me to the dentist.
5. To get to the library, go down this street and _make_ a right turn at the
corner.
6. Kinsey got up early and _did_ her exercises before breakfast.
7. It was difficult, but after a few weeks in the U.S. Anwar began to _make_
a few friends.
8. Don’t _make_ promises you can’t keep!
9. Do you know how much Jack _makes_ at his new job?
10. I didn’t even know he had a new job. What is he _do_ now?
11. Prof. Klein was honored for _doing_ research into deadly diseases.
12. I try to _do_ my homework before dinner everyday.
13. My neighbor always yells at my children for _making_ noise on Saturday
mornings.
14. Carla always tries to speak in class; she knows she has to _make_ a
contribution.
15. I was _doing_ the dishes when I _made_ a discovery: the plastic dishes
don’t float.
16. Your boss will appreciate it if you just _do_ your job well.
17. Who _does or did_ the ironing at your house?
18. Which is easier, _making_ peace or _making_ war?
19. Everyone in the class had to _make_ a speech last semester.
20. After you _do_ this activity, check with your partner to see if you _made_
any errors.

Pronouncing the -ed Ending

There are 3 ways to pronounce -ed at the end of verbs.

The only time you add a syllable is when the base form of the verb ends with a
-t or -d:

start  started fold  folded

[star tid] [fol did]

For all other verbs, there is no additional syllable when you add -ed.
The final sound of the verb is changed, however, to a t or a d.

Final sound is changed to t Final sound is changed to d

when last sound of verb is:
k, ck, ch, sh, s, x, p, f
talk  talked [talkt]
check  checked [chekt]
search  searched [searcht]
flash  flashed [flasht]
kiss  kissed [kist]
hex  hexed [hext]
stop  stopped [stopt]
when last sound of verb is:
m, n, l, z, b, g, r, v
blame  blamed [blamd]
plan  planned [pland]
pull  pulled [puld]
buzz  buzzed [buzd]
rub  rubbed [rubd]
change  changed (changd]
roar  roared [roard]
fluff  fluffed [fluft] save  saved [savd]

Pronouncing the -ed Ending

Indicate how the -ed ending for each of the following would be pronounced:

1. watch -id _______ -t _______ -d _______

2. look -id _______ -t _______ -d _______
3. need -id _______ -t _______ -d _______
4. fill -id _______ -t _______ -d _______
5. help -id _______ -t _______ -d _______
6. count -id _______ -t _______ -d _______
7. push -id _______ -t _______ -d _______
8. pull -id _______ -t _______ -d _______
9. rest -id _______ -t _______ -d _______
10. raise -id _______ -t _______ -d _______
11. watch -id _______ -t _______ -d _______
12. believe -id _______ -t _______ -d _______
13. ask -id _______ -t _______ -d _______

Red List: Irregular Verbs

The past tense of verbs is normally formed by adding -ed to the base form of the verb:

ask-->asked

However, many common verbs have irregular past forms. Here is a list of some of these
verbs. It is useful to memorize this list.

Base form Past tense Base form Past Tense

become became lend lent
begin began let let
bet bet lie lay
bite bit lose lost
bleed bled mean meant
blow blew meet met
break broke pay paid
bring brought put put
build built read read
buy bought ride rode
catch caught ring rang
choose chose rise rose
come came run ran
cost cost say said
cut cut see saw
dig dug sell sold
do did send sent
eat ate shake shook
fall fell shoot shot
feed fed sing sang
feel felt sit sat
fight fought sleep slept
find found speak spoke
fly flew spend spent
forget forgot stand stood
get got steal stole
give gave swim swam
go went take took
grow grew teach taught
have had tear tore
hear heard tell told
hide hid think thought
hit hit throw threw
hold held wear wore
hurt hurt win won
write wrote

Green List: Irregular Verbs

Base Form Present Participle Simple Past Past Participle
bear bearing bore borne/born
beat beating beat beaten
become becoming became become
begin beginning began begun
bend bending bent bent
bet betting bet bet
bid bidding bid bid
bind binding bound bound
bite biting bit bitten
bleed bleeding bled bled
blow blowing blew blown
break breaking broke broken
breed breeding bred bred
bring bringing brought brought
build building built built
burst bursting burst burst
buy buying bought bought
catch catching caught caught
choose choosing chose chose
come coming came come
cost costing cost cost
creep creeping crept crept
cut cutting cut cut
dig digging dug dug
do doing did done
draw drawing drew drawn
eat eating ate eaten
fall falling fell fallen
feed feeding fed fed
feel feeling felt felt
fight fighting fought fought
find finding found found
fit fitting fit fit
forbid forbidding forbid forbid
forget forgetting forgot forgotten
freeze freezing froze frozen
get getting got gotten
give giving gave given
go going went gone
grind grinding ground ground
grow growing grew grown
hang hanging hung hung
have having had had
hear hearing heard heard
hide hiding hid hidden
hit hitting hit hit
hold holding held held
hurt hurting hurt hurt
keep keeping kept kept
know knowing knew known
lay laying laid laid
lead leading led led
leave leaving left left
lend lending lent lent
let letting let let
lie lying lay lain
light lighting lit/lighted lit/lighted
lose losing lost lost
mean meaning meant meant
meet meeting met met
pay paying Paid paid
put putting put put
quit quitting quit quit
read reading read read
ride riding rode ridden
ring ringing rang rung
rise rising rose risen
run running ran run
say saying said said
see seeing saw seen
sell selling sold sold
send sending sent sent
shake shaking shook shaken
shoot shooting shot shot
show showing showed shown/showed
sing singing sang sung
sit sitting sat sat
sleep sleeping slept slept
slide sliding slid slid
speak speaking spoke spoken
spend spending spent spent
stand standing stood stood
steal stealing stole stolen
sweep sweeping swept swept
swim swimming swam swum
take taking took taken
teach teaching taught taught
tear tearing tore torn
tell telling told told
think thinking thought thought
throw throwing threw thrown
understand understanding understood understood
wake waking woke/waked woken/waked
wear wearing wore worn
win winning won won
wind winding wound wound
write writing wrote written

Have we left anything out? Let me know.

David Tillyer datcc@cunyvm.cuny.edu

GWYNI
Irregular Verbs

Fill in the sentences below with the past tense of verbs you select from this list:
run see feel sing sleep eat get go stop buy drive

1. Andy _______ to Chicago last week.

2. Andy _______ from Pittsburgh to Chicago in less than eight hours.
3. He _______ and _______ a pizza in Cleveland.
4. He was tired so he _______ to himself to keep himself awake.
5. Finally, he _______ and _______ for an hour in Toledo.
6. He _______ a little sick for a little while.
7. That was probably because he _______ the pizza too fast in Cleveland.
8. He _______ into a little traffic close to Chicago.
9. He _______ to Chicago at about 7:30 p.m.
10. He _______ the sunset in the distance.

Look at the list again.