English for Specific Purposes
Wrld

2. Collocations with “DO VS. MAKE”

DO

No	Common phrases: DO + TASK	Examples
1	The housework, the washing, the washing-up, the gardening, the ironing, the shopping, research, a course, a favour	I did the garderning yesterday. We are doing a course in physics.
2	Some exercises, subjects, homework, business with	Children dislike doing homework.
3	Do well, do badly, do one’s best, one’s job, one’s duty, do without, something / anything / nothing	She does nothing at all – she is lazy.

MAKE

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No	Common phrases: MAKE + WORD	Examples
1	A mistake, a meal, a decision, a noise, a bed, a complaint, an effort, an attempt, an excuse, an offer, a profit, a loss, a speech, a suggestion, a cup of tea / coffee, a phone call, a face, an impression, a gesture	I made a common mistake. It is hard to make a decision on the spot.
2	friends, progress, money, trouble, love, fun of, lunch / breakfast/dinner, arrangements,	Children make friends easily.

EXERCISES

Fill in the gaps using appropriate expressions with DO or MAKE.

1.      Women in this country usually ____ housework at the weekends.

2.      They ______ money in the USA – now they are well-off.

3.      We always ______ the shopping together.

4.      Students usually  forget to _____ their homework.

5.      It is hard to ______ friends abroad.

6.      I never forget to _____ my homework.

7.      Traffic outside ______ a lot of noise.

8.      She is _______ research in biology at London University.

9.      He promised to _____ his best and kept his promise.

10.  You are ________ well in this exercise, aren‘t you?

11.  The Lithuanians prefer to _____ business with foreign investors.

12.  What subjects did you ______ at University?

13.   You will have to ______ your own dinner tomorrow - I'll be away.

14.   He always _______ trouble whatever he does.

15.  I _____ a suggestion: personalize your learning –then you will learn faster.

16.  She always ______ an excuse if she does not want to be bothered.

17.  The president _______ a speech on current affairs.

18.  World bankers‘ have the only goal - to ______ a profit.

19.  They _____ an offer which was impossible to turn down.

20.  If you _____ someone a favour it means you will help them.

21.  She failed to ______ a phone call.

22.           Your good performance in these tests will _____ a good impression.

Answer keys

Resources
ONLINE EXERCISES
Galina Kavaliauskienė
Mykolas Romeris University, Vilnius, Lithuania