Hey guys, you're listening to Actually English, the podcast
that takes real English from the real world and breaks it down so
it actually makes sense, Made for intermediate to advanced
speakers who want to learn everything that the textbooks
don't teach. I'm your host, Jenna.
Let's get started. Hello guys, welcome back to
another episode of Actually English.
Thank you so much for being here.
It really means everything to me, honestly, that you are here
listening to my podcast today. We are really going to put some
practice in knowing the difference between do and make.
In a lot of languages, or at least in some languages, do and
make are the same verb. There is only one word for do
and make, but in English they're two separate verbs.
So we're going to look today at when you use do, when you use
make, and let's see, maybe there will be be an exception or two.
By the end of the episode, you will have a rule, a story, lots
of examples, a summary, and a little challenge.
So here's the thing. Most textbooks will give you a
list. Make the bed, do the dishes,
make a decision, do your homework and you just memorize
the lists and hope for the best. But that's not what we are doing
today. Today I'm going to give you the
one idea that connects all of it.
Are you ready? Make is about creation or
production when something new comes into existence.
A meal, a decision, a mistake, a plan.
You almost always use make. You are producing something,
building something, bringing something into the world that
was not here before. And do is about actions and
processes, things that you perform or work through.
There's no product at the end, you just did the thing.
OK, let me show you. Well, you listen.
You make dinner because at the end there is a meal.
Something exists that didn't before.
You do the dishes because at the end the dishes are just cleaned.
You performed this process. Nothing new was created.
Arguably, something was destroyed, which is the opposite
of making you make a mistake, because the mistake now exists.
It's real. You created it.
You do your homework because you worked through a process.
There's no new thing at the end, just hopefully some new
knowledge. You make a suggestion because
the suggestion is now out there in the world.
You do research because research is a process you carry out.
Can you feel the difference? Creation versus process,
Production versus action? Now, there are exceptions.
The more you listen and you practice English, the more it
will make sense, which is what we're going to do right now.
Listen and practice. First, we're going to make a
quick list of the most of the most common phrases that use
make. Make a decision, make a plan,
make a mistake, make an effort, make progress.
Make a phone call, make a suggestion, make money, make a
promise, make noise, make friends, make an excuse.
Do you guys see the pattern there?
They're all like producing something.
A decision exists now because you made the decision.
Progress exists now because you made progress.
A promise exists now. Money, hopefully now exists.
OK, now let me give you a list with the verb do.
Do the dishes, do your homework, do the laundry, do research, do
business, do exercise, do your best, do a favor, do damage, do
well or do badly. These are all processes,
actions, things that you do, things you carry out.
Nothing is new. Nothing is produced at the end
except maybe some clean clothes. And now this is where you're
going to hate me. This is a one of my favorite
examples because it's confusing. Are you ready?
You make the bed, you do not do the bed.
You make the bed, but nothing is being created.
I know, I know. This is one of those exceptions
that we talked about. OK, you can think of it if you
want. You can think of it like you are
producing a very nice looking bed.
Like I said, this is one of the exceptions.
You just have to live with it. Now we're going to read a really
short story and of course there's many Do's and many
makes. Just try to take note of what is
used with make and what is used with DO.
Our character in the story is a man named Tom and well, Tom is
having a very, very productive Saturday.
Or, well, at least he thinks he is.
Tom wakes up and immediately makes a plan for the day.
He writes it all down. Gym, groceries, call his mom,
fix the shelf in the kitchen. Very ambitious, very organized.
First he does some exercise. Just 30 minutes, nothing crazy.
While he's working out, he makes a mental note to buy more
protein. He has no idea what protein he
wants, but nonetheless the note is made.
He showers, goes to the kitchen and makes breakfast.
Eggs, toast, coffee. Beautiful.
He sits down, takes 1 sip of his coffee, and immediately makes a
face. He grabbed salt instead of
sugar, easily the worst mistake he had made all week and it was
only 9:00 AM. He pours it out, makes a new
coffee, and sits down to do some research on the shelf situation.
Apparently fixing a shelf is more complicated than he
thought. He watches 4 YouTube videos.
He makes a note. He makes a list of everything he
needs from the hardware store. At the hardware store, he runs
into his neighbor Patricia. Patricia is the kind of person
who makes conversation with everyone.
Tom likes Patricia, but he has a lot to do today.
She makes a suggestion. Why don't you just hire someone?
Tom laughs and makes an excuse about wanting to learn new
skills and escapes. He comes home, looks at the
shelf, and he does his best. The shelf falls off of the wall.
20 minutes later, Tom sits on the floor, surrounded by screws
and broken plaster, and he makes a decision.
He's going to call someone. He picks up his phone and makes
the call and makes a promise to himself.
Next time just listen to Patricia, OK?
You guys remember, make creation, production, making
something new, make a plan, make a mistake, make a decision, do
actions, processes, carrying something out, doing exercise,
doing research everyday. I'm sure me and you, we do our
best. Hey, can you do me a favor?
Just remember the one exception that we learned today is make
the bed. We just have to accept it.
We make the bed, we don't do the bed.
Here is our challenge for today. I am going to say 10 sentences
and you say out loud if it is do or make ready, here we go.
Every morning she the same mistake make every morning she
makes the same mistake #2 He his homework at the last minute
every single time do he does his homework at the last minute #3
Can you me a favor? Do can you do me a favor #4 She
a really good point in the meeting make.
She made a really good point in the meeting #5 I need to some
research before I decide. Do I need to do some research
before I decide? Six he always excuses make He
always makes excuses. 7 We business with three companies in
Brazil. Do we do business with three
companies in Brazil #8 She a noise in the middle of the night
and woke everyone up make she made a noise in the middle of
the night #9 I'm trying to my best here do I'm trying to do my
best here. And the last 110 every morning
without fail, he the bed make. Every morning he makes the bed.
OK, How did you guys do? I honestly want to know.
Let me know in the comments how many you got right.
OK, We just did do versus make and now it's done.
Thank you guys so much for being here with me.
It means so much to me. And I will say it again and
again, thank you so much. And as always, if you can share
this with one English learner, that would mean so much to me.
You can also reach me here in the comments or on Instagram at
Actually English Podcast. And hey, we open TikTok.
So now we are on TikTok at Actually English and we put out
episodes every Wednesday. So stay tuned.
Thank you so much again, stay safe, keep learning and I will
talk to you in the next one.