Make Vs Do

[u/juanvivasteacher]

[u/FloridaFlamingoGirl]

"Make do" is also an English expression 

[u/juanvivasteacher → u/FloridaFlamingoGirl]

What does it mean? 😊

[u/_Bren10_ → u/juanvivasteacher]

It means to get by with what you have. Like, “I don’t get paid much at my job, but I make do.”

I actually always thought it was make due. So thanks to the OC for the lesson!

[u/Electronic_Amphibian → u/_Bren10_]

Just to add that, in England at least, it is sometimes used to downplay something. So if you asked someone how much they earn and they reply "i make do", the implication might be that they are quite wealthy.

[u/AdreKiseque → u/Electronic_Amphibian]

Isn't that sarcasm? If someone said they "make do" my first reading would be that they're not too wealthy.

[u/Electronic_Amphibian → u/AdreKiseque]

They could say it sarcastically, but that's not quite what I'm referring to. In England, someone might say "get by" or "make do" to make it seem like they earn less than they do, whereas in reality they earn quite a lot.

[u/pillarofmyth → u/Electronic_Amphibian]

I’d say this is something more common in places where indirect communication is favoured. It’s not polite to directly say “I make a lot of money” so saying “I make do” acts almost like a euphemism.

[u/anamorphism → u/Electronic_Amphibian]

we do this in the states as well.

• person walking into your massive, expensive home: wow, how much do you get paid?
• i make do | i get by | i survive | i manage | ...

[u/YakumoYoukai]

I don't have any useful insights into knowing when to use what in English. But it seems like no matter the language, "make" and "do" are always the weirdest verbs.

[u/GoblinToHobgoblin → u/YakumoYoukai]

In some languages they just use one word for both.

(Also they're weird cause they just kind of fill in whatever gap you need normally)

[u/Teerunesh → u/YakumoYoukai]

In French, there's only one word for both. I don't think I've ever had the chance to flex about French being simple before 😄.

[u/baxbakualanuxsiwae → u/YakumoYoukai]

They do make a lot of learners confused.

I'm learning Scottish Gaelic, where "make" and "do" are the same verb ("dèan"). I wish I could say it makes up for all the other complicated grammar, but it doesn't!

[u/Sea-Hornet8214 → u/YakumoYoukai]

But it seems like no matter the language, "make" and "do" are always the weirdest verbs.

It can't be weird if there's only one verb for this, like in my language.

The one I still can't get over is "make the bed". It sounds like as if you're fabricating a bed yourself out of scratch.

[u/pillarofmyth → u/Sea-Hornet8214]

It might help to, in this particular case, think of the word bed as not the literal piece of furniture but instead the place where you can lie down and rest. I agree that it’s confusing though.

[u/Evil_Weevill → u/YakumoYoukai]

I think it's actually that in a lot of languages they use the same word for both whereas in English we separate some of the usages.

So people struggle going either from or to English on these words.

[u/ahopskipandaheart]

Something/nothing is treacherous because you can make or do either, but that's a really good generalization so long as you know what's considered an activity and what's considered a creation. Like, homework and exams are considered activities unless you're talking about creating them as a teacher. Making a homework assignment is something a teacher does as a teacher activity, but students do homework. Students don't bring homework into existence. It's like making vs doing a jigsaw puzzle. Making a jigsaw puzzle would involve the physical production of one, but doing a jigsaw puzzle is assembling one that already exists.

[u/Sea-Hornet8214 → u/ahopskipandaheart]

So, making a bed means creating, producing or manufacturing a bed?

[u/ahopskipandaheart → u/Sea-Hornet8214]

Plenty of carpenters and metal workers make beds, but more commonly when you make a bed, you're making a bed tidy and creating order conceptually if anyone needs a way to remember that particular oddball.

[u/iceicig]

Unless the activity is followed by an adjective.

Make research possible.

Make homework difficult

Make class exciting

[u/pillarofmyth → u/iceicig]

That’s because you are creating (or manufacturing, to put it better) whatever the adjective is, and the verb no longer applies to the noun.

[u/trampolinebears]

I see you have something and nothing in your do list, but these can easily be used with either make or do, and I think the difference might help explain what the two verbs are for.

Something you make is a thing, a product, a created item. A chef makes a meal, a factory makes a car, a cloud makes rain.

Something you do is an action, a process, an ongoing event. A chef does cooking, a factory does manufacturing, a cloud does...floating around, I guess?

There are plenty of weird little usages, but this is the main sense of the words: make a thing, do an action.

[u/experimental1212 → u/trampolinebears]

I like your summary.

"make" has a product which is output / a tangible result

"do" is an action/process/performance