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Speaker 1: I get it. Make and do can be super confusing.

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You've probably learned that both verbs mean to take an

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action in some way, but for example, how do you

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know when to say, make a mistake or do your homework.

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That's what we're going to clear up today.

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Speaker 2: Welcome to another Happy English podcast, coming to you from

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New York City, and here's your English teacher, Michael al Ray.

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Speaker 1: Thank you John, and thanks everyone. It's Michael here from

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Happy English and I help people speak English better. And

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this is Happy English Podcast, Episode nine twenty seven. How

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to use make and do in English? What's the difference? Hey,

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thanks for tuning in. Today we're going to talk about

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two small but mighty verbs in English, make and do.

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These verbs show up everywhere, but the tricky part is

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knowing when to use which one. So today we'll go

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over the core difference between make and do, and I'll

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give you lots of real life examples along the way. First,

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let's talk about the basic idea behind these two verbs.

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We use do when we talk about general actions, tasks, processes,

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and responsibilities. Do is more about performing an activity, not

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really creating anything new, like when Jack says, ugh, I

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have to do my taxes this weekend. He's not making taxes,

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he's just going through the process. Or I use usually

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do the laundry on Sunday mornings. That's just a task,

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something that you carry out. And here's what I say

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all the time, I'll do my best to finish this

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by Friday. Do my best again. There's no object being created,

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its effort, it's work, it's a process. On the other hand,

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we use make when we create or produce something. It

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could be physical, like a cake or a sandwich, or

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it could be more abstract, like a decision or a plan,

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like last night I made dinner for my friends, or

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Jack made a mess in the kitchen and didn't clean

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it up. Again. Here's another one. I made a few

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phone calls this morning to confirm our appointments, and I

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need to make a decision soon about whether I'm traveling

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for the holidays. So just to sum that up, use

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do for actions, tasks, or things with no clear outcome.

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Use make when something is created, even if it's not physical.

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But I know what you're thinking. What about those weird

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expressions that don't follow the logic? Yeah, I get it.

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English is full of those. We call those collocations, which

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means words that naturally go together, even if the grammar

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rule doesn't help you. For example, we say make the bed,

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not do the bed. I know that would surprise me

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too when I was learning Japanese and thinking about the

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same confusion. Jack makes the bed every morning, even if

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it doesn't look that Neat The point is the phrase

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make the bed doesn't actually mean to construct or build

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the bed. Make the bed just means to arrange the

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sheets and blankets neatly on the bed. Here's another collocation

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with make. Jack's daughter makes a fuss every time it's bedtime.

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That means she complains and resists, Totally normal for a

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four year old. Now let's look at a few more

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tricky cases. You can do your hair, but you make

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a mess of your hair. When you do your hair,

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you style your hair, maybe with a hair dryer, curlers,

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or just a comb, and when you're done doing your hair,

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it looks great. If you do your hair, it's a process.

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But after that, when you put on your knit cap

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and then take it off, you end up making a

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mess of your hair. You make a mess. You create

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a mess. Here are two other related do and make phrases.

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You can do business with someone. When you do business,

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you go through a process to buy, trade or sell

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something to them and the result well, hopefully, once you

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do business, you can then make money from that business.

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And when I say you make money, it doesn't mean

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you physically produce bills and coins. To make money means

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to earn money, do business and make money. These are

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just combinations that you have to learn through exposure and

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practice and memorization. Here's another one that learners often mix up.

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Make a mistake versus do a mistake the correct one.

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Make a mistake always like ooh, I made a mistake

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in the spelling of her name. When you make a mistake,

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you create the mistake. It wasn't there before you made it.

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Make means create. On the flip side, we always say

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do homework, not make homework, Like I did my homework

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on this company before the job interview. Here's the logic.

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Your teacher gives you an assignment and you go through

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the prom of doing that assignment. Maybe you need to

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read something and then answer questions. In a sense, your

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teacher makes the homework, she creates it. Then you do

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the homework. You go through the process to complete it.

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So like make a mistake, and do homework. There are

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a lot of set phrases, idioms, and collocations with make

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and do, which you just need to memorize. A really

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useful one of these is can you do me a favor?

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Can you do me a favor means can you help

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me by doing something for me? Like, Hey, can you

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do me a favor? And let me know the Wi

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Fi password? I need the password and I want you

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to tell me what it is, so I use can

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you do me a f and let me know the

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Wi Fi password. It's really important to learn these make

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and do phrases in a sentence. When you do well,

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just like that, it all starts to click. It's not

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always about logic or grammar. It's about the set patterns

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and the context those patterns are in. So what should

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you do if you're not sure whether to use make

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or do? My best advice, memorize the phrase without worrying

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too much of the meaning of do and make. Memorize

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the full phrase, make a plan, do the dishes, make

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a phone call, do your best. That's how native speakers think.

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We don't say hmm, is this a creating verb or

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a task verb? We just remember what sounds right because

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we've heard it and set it so many times, and

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that's what you need to do. You need to hear

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it and say it a lot. So here's your challenge

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this week. Write down five things you do every day

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and five things you make try using full phrases like

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do the shopping, make dinner, do your best, make a list,

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do exercise, make a plan, Say them out loud, and

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get a feel for the rhythm. Today, I've given you

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just a handful of these make and do phrases. Now

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you need to work on memorizing them and remembering how

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they are used. You know the context. And if you

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want help practicing these and all of the other things

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that we cover in this podcast, come on and join

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my podcast Learner's Study Group. We meet every week to

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practice the grammar, vocabulary, and pronunciation from these podcast lessons.

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Just click the link we are listening right now, or

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visit Myhappy English dot com and choose podcast episode nine

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to twenty seven for more info. Hey, thanks for listening,

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and remember, learning another language is not easy, but it's

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not impossible, and I'm here to help you on your journey.

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Speaker 2: This podcast is brought to you by Happy English. Please

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visit Myhappy English dot com. Show your support for Happy

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