Quick answer. Use do for tasks, work and activities; use make when you create, produce or cause a result. The rule is a useful starting point, but many answers are fixed collocations: do homework, make a mistake, do business, make progress.
- sort common collocations by meaning;
- choose the correct tense of make or do;
- notice cases where context changes the verb;
- produce your own examples and check the answers.
Make or do: the core pattern
| Use | Common collocations | Example |
|---|---|---|
| do: task or work | do homework, do housework, do a job | I did my homework before dinner. |
| do: activity | do exercise, do yoga, do research | We are doing research this week. |
| make: create or prepare | make dinner, make a plan, make a list | She made a list of questions. |
| make: cause a result | make progress, make a mistake, make money | He has made good progress. |
| fixed social action | make a call, make a promise, make a decision | They made a decision yesterday. |
Do not translate the Russian verb «делать» first. Identify the English noun and learn it together with its verb. The unit to remember is make a decision, not only decision.
Exercise 1: choose make or do
- Please ___ the washing-up after dinner.
- We need to ___ a decision today.
- She always ___ her best in difficult situations.
- I ___ an appointment with the dentist yesterday.
- They are ___ business with a local company.
- He has ___ three mistakes in this paragraph.
- Can you ___ me a favour?
- The new routine ___ a big difference.
Answers to Exercise 1
- do
- make
- does
- made
- doing
- made
- do
- makes
Notice that the task also tests verb form. The collocation stays the same, but tense and agreement change.
Exercise 2: sort the collocations
Put these phrases into two groups: homework, a complaint, the shopping, progress, a choice, research, the laundry, an effort, a phone call, nothing.
Model sorting
Do: do homework, do the shopping, do research, do the laundry, do nothing. Make: make a complaint, make progress, make a choice, make an effort, make a phone call.
Exercise 3: correct the Russian-speaker mistake
- I made my homework before class.
- She did a serious mistake.
- We must do a decision now.
- He made the housework on Saturday.
- This course helped me do progress.
- Could you make me a favour?
Corrections
- I did my homework before class.
- She made a serious mistake.
- We must make a decision now.
- He did the housework on Saturday.
- This course helped me make progress.
- Could you do me a favour?
One noun can change the meaning
Sometimes both verbs are possible, but the meaning changes. Do an exercise means complete a task; make an exercise can mean create one, although write/design an exercise is often clearer. Do the bed is not standard for arranging the sheets; use make the bed. Make work means create work or difficulty, while do work means perform it.
Exercise 4: choose by context
- The teacher ___ an exercise for the class. (created)
- The students ___ the exercise in ten minutes. (completed)
- The delay ___ more work for the support team. (created)
- The support team ___ the work by Friday. (performed)
- I need to ___ the bed before the guests arrive.
Answers and explanation
- made / wrote
- did
- made
- did
- make
The noun alone is not always enough: read the meaning in brackets and decide whether someone creates the task or performs it.
Exercise 5: use the correct tense
- By the end of last month, we ___ significant progress. (make)
- What ___ you ___ at the moment? (do)
- She never ___ promises she cannot keep. (make)
- I ___ the shopping before you called. (do)
- If you ___ your best, the result will improve. (do)
Model answers
- had made
- are / doing
- makes
- had done
- do
Self-check
Can you explain the choice?
Complete three frames without a list: ___ homework, ___ a mistake, ___ progress. Then create one pair where the noun stays the same but the meaning changes, such as make an exercise versus do an exercise. If you can explain creation versus performance, the distinction is active.
Related practice
Continue with phrasal verbs exercises, word formation, mixed tenses, articles, prepositions, too and enough and subject and object questions.
FAQ
Is there one rule that covers every collocation?
No. Creation versus activity explains many choices, but frequent collocations must be learned as complete phrases and checked in context.
Should I learn long alphabetical lists?
Group phrases by situation instead: study, housework, communication, money and decisions. Then write one personal sentence with each group.
