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The two verbs 'do' and 'make' are often confused. Los dos significan "hacer" en español. Listen to a list of nouns and expressions and say if they go with do or make.

Money? - Make.
Business? – Do. We do business to make money.
Progress? – Make. “I’m making progress with my English.”
A mistake? Make. We all make mistakes.
A cup of tea or a cup of coffee? Make. Are you making coffee? Food and drink go with make. Make breakfast, make a sandwich, make dinner, make a cocktail, make a salad etc.
The washing? Do. Most things in the house we do. For example, do the washing, do the cleaning, do the ironing - la plancha, do the washing up, do the shopping etc. The exception is the bed. We make the bed.
A speech? – Make. A speech es un discurso. In Britain people make speeches at weddings.
A test? – Do. Students do a test or take a test and teachers give tests or set tests.
Housework? – Do. Remember, most things in the house we do.
A complaint? – Make. The verb is to complain - quejarse, and the noun is complaint - queja. “Excuse me I want to make a complaint.”
Homework? - Do
A plan? - Make
A course? - Do
Reservations? – Make. Reservations - reservas, arrangements – los planes and appointments – las citas are made. “I made reservations for dinner.” Did you make a reservation at the hotel?”
Your best? Do.
An effort – Make an effort. Try hard. Make an effort and do you best. You should always do your best.
A good impression? Make.
Love? Make. We make love, we make peace and we make war - guerra.
A decision? - Make.
Exercise? - Do
Something well/badly? Do. To do something well es hacerse lo bien, but if you do well the meaning is prosperar, ir bien. If you are doing badly te va mal. “My business is doing badly this year.”
A loss? To make a loss. If your business is doing badly, it’s probably making a loss – losing money. What’s the opposite of making a loss? – making a profit.
A sandwich? Sandwich is food, so…..make. Make a sandwich.
War? - Make.
The cleaning? – Do
A point? – Make. “Let me just make a point.” “You’ve made a good point.”
Sport? – Do. Do exercise, do gymnastics, do karate, do judo, do tai chi, do aerobics etc.
Peace? - Make
A decision? - Make
An experiment? – Do.
Friends? - Make. The preposition is with. I made friends with an interesting girl from Manchester. To make friends with.
A lot of noise? - Make. Children make a lot of noise. “Don’t make so much noise!”
Harm? – daño – Do.
An offer? – Make. I made him an offer he couldn’t refuse.
A good job? - Do. “You’ve done a good job.”
Someone a favour? - Do. “Can you do me a favour?”
A phone call? - Make
A promise? – Make. Make a promise and keep a promise (or break a promise)
Some work? – Do. Do some work and do a job. Remember work is uncountable (some work) and jobs are countable (do a job)
Nothing?/Something? – Do. “Don’t just sit there doing nothing. Do something. Make a cup of tea or something!”
Research? – investigación. – Do. Scientists do research.
Sense? – Make. This doesn’t make sense – no tiene sentido.
Up your mind? – Make. Make up your mind means to decide. Are you going to make up your mind?
A mess? – un lío - Make. Don’t make a mess, I’ve just done the cleaning.
An appointment? – Make.
The bed? - Make
A film? – Make. Make often has the idea of creating something. Something physical. To make a table from wood, to make a sculpture, to make a film. We also say to shoot a film – rodar una pelicular.
A cake? - Make
The washing-up? – Do. In the UK it’s “do the washing up” – lavar los platos, fregar. In the US they say “do the dishes”.
A profit? - Make
An exam? - Do
The cooking? - Do
Arrangements? - Make
Dinner? - Make
A cocktail? - Make
The shopping? - Do
A degree? Do. “Where did you do your degree? Which university?”
The ironing? - Do
A start? – Make. Let’s make a start. Let’s begin.
The accounts? las cuentas – Do.

(break)

Now listen and practise the expressions in groups. The first group is In The House. Listen and repeat:

Do
…the ironing
…the washing
…the washing-up
…the cleaning
…the cooking
…the shopping
…the housework

Make
…the bed

Now expressions connected to work and study. Listen and repeat:

Do
…business
…the accounts
…a good job
…research
…a degree

Make
…money
…a profit (make a loss)
…an offer
…an appointment

And now food and drink.

Do
…the washing-up
…the cooking

Make
…dinner
…a cocktail
…a cake
…a sandwich
…a cup of tea

(break)

Listen and repeat:

Could you do me a favour?
I’m afraid you’ve made a mistake.
Our neighbours are making a lot of noise.
Excuse me. I need to make a phone call.
It’s your turn to do the washing up. It’s your turn – te toca a ti.
I hate making speeches. I get really nervous.
Make love not war.
You really should make an effort to learn Spanish.
I think she made a very good impression.
As soon as I wake up I make the bed.
I’ve made the decision to do a computer course.
Can you help me do these English exercises?
I made an appointment to see my dentist.
How much money did you make last year?
Would you mind doing the shopping this afternoon?
Why don’t you make me an offer?
It’s been a pleasure doing business with you.


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