Do | Expressions with Do and Make | Do or Make Quiz

Make

Make for construction
Make often expresses the idea of construction or creation:

• I'll make a cake for Anthony's birthday.
• This car was made in France.
• Did you make this table yourself?

Remember that we usually use make for products or goods that are manufactured. That's why you see labels like "Made in Hong Kong" or "Made in the USA" on products that you buy.

Now compare:

• Do the shopping. (We don't really create anything. We just "do" an activity.)
• Make a cake. (We really create something.)

In the next example, notice how we use make for creation (the cake) and then use do (for the general activity) even though we're really talking about the same thing:

• I must make Anthony's cake. I'll do it now.