Skype English School

Collocations – Everyday Verbs 

Make 

Make arrangements for         The school can make arrangements for pupils with special needs.

Make a change / changes The new manager is planning to make some changes.

Make a choice          Jill had to make a choice between her career and her family.

Make a comment / comments Would anyone like to make any comments on the talk?

Make a contribution to She made a useful contribution to the discussion.

Make a decision          I’m glad it’s you who has to make the decision, not me.

Make an effort          Joe is really making an effort with his maths this term.

Make an excuse I’m too tired to go out tonight. Let’s make an excuse to stay at home.

Make friends         Karen is very good at making friends.

Make an improvement Repainting the room has really made an improvement.

Make a mistake         They’ve made a mistake in our bill.

Make a phone call         I’ve got to make some phone calls before dinner.

Make progress         Harriet is making progress with all her schoolwork.

Do 

Do your best All that matters in the exam is to do your best.

Do damage The storm did some damage to our roof.

Do an experiment We are doing an experiment to test how the metal reacts with water.

Do exercises We’ll do some exercises practicing these collocations tomorrow.

Do someone a good turn  Scouts and guides are supposed to do someone a good turn every day.

Do harm          Changing the rules may do more harm than good.

Do your hair No, I’m not ready. I haven’t done my hair yet.

Do your homework My son has to do his homework straight after school.

Do the ironing/shopping I’ll do the washing if you do the ironing.

Do some work We’ll do some work on our project and then we’ll go to the cinema.

Which one is it – do or make ?

Did the fire do/make much damage to the factory?

I hate doing/making  my homework  at the last minute.

You must do/make an effort to work harder.

Did you do/ make any work at the weekend?

We are trying to do/ make improvements to the system for registering.

Do you think it would do/make any harm if I cut some leaves off this plant?