Do and Make are two verbs which frequently confuse students. Here we will learn about the difference between Do and Make and when to use each one.
DO is used as follows:
1. DO is used when talking about work, jobs or tasks. Note, they do not produce any physical object.
2. DO is used when we refer to activities in general without being specific. In these cases, we normally use words like thing, something, nothing, anything, everything etc.
3. We sometimes use DO to replace a verb when the meaning is clear or obvious. This is more common in informal spoken English:
Remember Do can also be as an auxiliary verb (for making questions in the present tense - Do you like chocolate?) For more about Do used in this case, see our page about Do vs Does. Here we will be talking about Do as a normal verb.
Make is for producing, constructing, creating or building something new.
It is also used to indicate the origin of a product or the materials that are used to make something.
We also use Make for producing an action or reaction:
You make after certain nouns about plans and decisions:
We use Make with nouns about speaking and certain sounds:
We use Make with Food, Drink and Meals:
