Speaker 1: Thanks for making time to listen to this podcast, English Lesson.
I'm so happy that you've made up your mind to
improve your English. Yeah, everyone's really busy these days, but
somehow you make it work. That's awesome.
Speaker 2: Welcome to another Happy English podcast, coming to you from
New York City. And here's your English teacher, Michael.
Speaker 1: All right, thank you John, and thanks everyone. It's Michael
here from Happy English and I help people speak English better.
And this is Happy English Podcast, Episode eight sixty nine.
Fun and casual phrases with make. Hello and welcome and
thanks for joining me for another episode of the English podcast. Today,
we're gonna look at some everyday fun and totally practical
phrases using the verb make. Now make is a super
flexible verb. We all know that you can make coffee
or make dinner, but in casual conversation we use make
in a bunch of idioms and expressions that go way
beyond the kitchen. So today we're gonna break down five
super useful and natural phrases make it work, make time,
make up your mind, make a mess, and make do.
And I'll give you a few examples of each, all
woven into real life situations. So you can see how
native speakers actually use them sound good. Let's dive in.
First up is make it work. Make it work. When
you say you're gonna make it work, it means you'll
find a way to succeed or fix a situation, even
if it's not ideal or perfect. Like yesterday, I was
supposed to record another podcast in the morning, but my
internet was down, so I recorded it on my phone
in the car. Not perfect, but hey, I made it work.
Or my friend Josh told me that he and his
girlfriend have totally different schedules, but they really care about
each other, so they're trying to make it work. They
do the best they can to see each other even
though their situation isn't ideal. And when one of my
students said I only have ten minutes a day to study,
I told her that's fine. You don't need two hours
a day. Just use the time you have and make
it work. So, yeah, make it work means figure it
out and get it done, even if it's not the
perfect or ideal way to do something, just do it.
Make it work. In a similar way, we have make do.
To make do means to manage with what you have,
even if it's not ideal, Like when my friend Tom
got laid off. He and his wife had to make
do on her salary, so they ate it home and
cancel things like their Netflix subscription until he was backworking.
They made do. And I remember back when I was
in college, I didn't have a blender, so when I
I wanted to have a smoothie, I just mashed fruit
with a fork. Not great, but hey, I may do.
Or like last week, I forgot my umbrella and got
caught in the rain, So I may do with a
newspaper over my head. It wasn't pretty, but I didn't
get completely soaked. Here's one more. We only had instant
coffee at the airbnb, but we may do. So if
things aren't perfect, but you find a way to survive,
you make do. Next, you can make time. This is
a really common phrase. To make time means to create
space in your schedule or in your day for someone
or to do something, even if you're busy. That's making time.
Like one of my students ask me to help with tooek,
So even though I'm a bit swamped this month, I'm
gonna make time to check her homework. And I remember
back in the day when I worked in the language
school as the manager, I often needed to make time
to help students and even staff when they needed help.
Like if someone fits you into their busy schedule, you
can say something like, hey, thanks for making time to
meet me for coffee today. That's a polite yet friendly
way to say I appreciate you fitting me into your schedule.
So when something matters to you, you make time. I
have a really busy work week, but on the weekend
I always make time to study Japanese and to play
the guitar. Yeah, I decided to do that. I made
up my mind to do that. Make Up your mind
This phrase means to decide something or to decide to
do something. If someone says, come on, make up your mind,
they're telling you to stop thinking and just choose something.
Like the other day, I spent like five minutes in
front of the vending machine trying to decide between iced
tea and black coffee. Finally I was like, oh, just
make up your mind. I went with the tea. Or
My friend Emma was going back and forth about whether
to quit her job. One day she said yes, the
next day no, so I told her, look, it's your life.
But at some point, you've got to make up your mind.
And here's one more. Have you made up your mind
about where you're going on vacation? Yet? This is how
we ask someone if they've made a decision. So if
you hear this phrase make up your mind, you know
someone's talking about choosing something. The last one is make
a mess. Now, this one does have a literal meaning,
but we also use it for non physical things. Yes,
of course, you can say like the kids made a
mess in the kitchen, or my dog Rosie made a
mess when she destroyed a sofa cushion. But you can
also say something like I really made a mess of
that presentation. It means I screwed up it didn't go well.
Or Danny made a mess of his relationship by not
being honest and cheating on his girlfriend. He made such
a mess she left him. So in casual conversation, make
a mess doesn't always mean spilled milk. It could be
a situation that got messy. So remember physical mess, emotional mess,
job mess, Make a mess works for all of it. Well,
there you have it. Five fun and casual make phrases
that Native speakers use all the time. Let's recap when
you make it work. You find a solution, even if
it's not ideal. When you make do you manage to
get by with what you've got. When you make time,
you create space in your schedule for someone or to
do something like to study English. When you make up
your mind, you decide something, and when you make a mess,
you create disorder, either physically or emotional. And now you
can use these phrases and sound more natural. Well, thanks
for making time to listen to this podcast English lesson.
Keep in mind the best way to remember English like
this and any other word or phrase in English, is
to take that word or phrase, write it in a
sentence that's true for you or true in your world,
and then memorize your sentences. And remember to check out
my AI tutor. It's a great way to practice your English,
get answers and more twenty four to seven and it's
all free. There's a link in the description where you
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And if you really want to speak English better and
feel good about your English, you should join my podcast
Learner's Study Group. I meet with a small group of
English learners like you each week where we practice these
podcast lessons together. It's a lot of fun and everyone
is really improving. You can too. To learn more, just
visit Myhappy English dot com and choose podcast lesson eight
sixty nine. Remember, learning another language is not easy, but
it's not impossible, and I'm here to help you on
your journey.
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