Learn useful collocations with DO and MAKE for daily English conversations.
Common Collocations with DO and MAKE – Video
Common English Collocations With MAKE
Food
- Make breakfast/lunch/dinner
E.g: I’m making dinner – it’ll be ready in about ten minutes.
- Make a sandwich
E.g: Could you make me a turkey sandwich?
- Make a salad
E.g: I made a salad for the family picnic.
- Make a cup of tea
E.g: Would you like me to make you a cup of tea?
- Make a reservation
E.g: I’ve made a reservation for 7:30 at our favorite restaurant.
Money
- Make money
E.g: I enjoy my job, but I don’t make very much money.
- Make a profit
E.g: The new company made a profit within its first year.
- Make a fortune
E.g: He made a fortune after his book hit #1 on the bestseller list.
- Make $___
E.g: I made $250 selling my old CDs on the internet.
Relationships
- Make friends
E.g: It’s hard to make friends when you move to a big city.
- Make a pass at (= flirt with someone)
E.g: My best friend’s brother made a pass at me – he asked if I was single and tried to get my phone number.
- Make fun of someone (= tease / mock someone)
E.g: The other kids made fun of Jimmy when he got glasses, calling him “four eyes.”
- Make up (= resolve a problem in a relationship)
E.g: Karen and Jennifer made up after the big fight they had last week.
Communication
- Make a phone call
E.g: Please excuse me – I need to make a phone call.
- Make a joke
E.g: He made a joke, but it wasn’t very funny and no one laughed.
- Make a point
E.g: Dana made some good points during the meeting; I think we should consider her ideas.
- Make a bet
E.g: I made a bet with Peter to see who could do more push-ups.
- Make a complaint
E.g: We made a complaint with our internet provider about their terrible service, but we still haven’t heard back from them.
- Make a confession
E.g: I need to make a confession: I was the one who ate the last piece of cake.
- Make a speech
E.g: The company president made a speech about ethics in the workplace.
- Make a suggestion
E.g: Can I make a suggestion? I think you should cut your hair shorter – it’d look great on you!
- Make a prediction
E.g: It’s difficult to make any predictions about the future of the economy.
- Make an excuse
E.g: When I asked him if he’d finished the work, he started making excuses about how he was too busy.
- Make a promise
E.g: I made a promise to help her whenever she needs it.
(You can also say, “I promised to help her whenever she needs it.”)
- Make a fuss (= demonstrate annoyance)
E.g: Stop making a fuss – he’s only late a couple minutes. I’m sure he’ll be here soon.
- Make an observation
E.g: I’d like to make an observation about our business plan – it’s not set in stone, so we can be flexible.
- Make a comment
E.g: The teacher made a few critical comments on my essay.
EXCEPTION: Don’t say “make a question.” The correct phrase is “ask a question.”
Plans & Progress
- Make plans
E.g: We’re making plans to travel to Australia next year.
- Make a decision/choice
E.g: I’ve made my decision – I’m going to go to New York University, not Boston University.
- Make a mistake
E.g: You made a few mistakes in your calculations – the correct total is $5430, not $4530.
- Make progress
E.g: My students are making good progress. Their spoken English is improving a lot.
- Make an attempt / effort (= try)
E.g: I’m making an effort to stop smoking this year.
- Make up your mind (= decide)
E.g: Should I buy a desktop or a laptop computer? I can’t make up my mind.
- Make a discovery
E.g: Scientists have made an important discovery in the area of genetics.
- Make a list
E.g: I’m making a list of everything we need for the wedding: invitations, decorations, a cake, a band, the dress…
- Make sure (= confirm)
E.g: Can you make sure we have enough copies of the report for everybody at the meeting?
- Make a difference
E.g: Getting eight hours of sleep makes a big difference in my day. I have more energy!
- Make an exception
E.g: Normally the teacher doesn’t accept late homework, but she made an exception for me because my backpack was stolen with my homework inside it.
Common English Collocations With DO
Housework
- Do the housework
E.g: After I got home from the office, I was too tired to do the housework.
- Do the laundry
E.g: I really need to do the laundry – I don’t have any clean clothes left!
- Do the dishes
E.g: I’ll make dinner if you do the dishes afterwards.
(You can also say “wash the dishes”)
- Do the shopping
E.g: I went to the bank, did some shopping, and mailed a package at the post office.
EXCEPTION: make the bed = putting blankets, sheets, and pillows in the correct place so that the bed looks nice and not messy.
Work / Study
- Do work
E.g: I can’t go out this weekend – I have to do some work on an extra project.
- Do homework
E.g: You can’t watch any TV until you’ve done your homework.
- Do business
E.g: We do business with clients in fifteen countries.
- Do a good/great/terrible job
E.g: She did a good job organizing the party.
(In this expression, “job” doesn’t necessarily refer to work. It simply means the person did something well)
- Do a report
E.g: I’m doing a report on the history of American foreign policy.
(You can also say “writing a report”)
- Do a course
E.g: We’re doing a course at the local university.
(You can also say “taking a course”)
Taking Care of Your Body
- Do exercise
E.g: I do at least half an hour of exercise every day.
- Do your hair (= style your hair)
E.g: I’ll be ready to go in 15 minutes – I just need to do my hair.
- Do your nails (= paint your nails)
E.g: Can you open this envelope for me? I just did my nails and they’re still wet.
General Good or Bad Actions
- Do anything / something / everything / nothing
E.g: Are you doing anything special for your birthday?
You can’t do everything by yourself – let me help you.
- Do well
E.g: I think I did pretty well in the interview.
- Do badly
E.g: Everyone did badly on the test – the highest grade was 68.
- Do good
E.g: The non-profit organization has done a lot of good in the community.
- Do the right thing
E.g: When I found someone’s wallet on the sidewalk, I turned it in to the police because I wanted to do the right thing.
- Do your best
E.g: Don’t worry about getting everything perfect – just do your best.
Collocations with DO and MAKE | Image
It’s really educating
Very useful for everyone who studies English.