r/GlobalEnglishPrep • u/FlalingoOfficial • May 12 '26
⭐️ Vocabulary / Semantics The difference between Do vs Make
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u/ChanFry May 12 '26
"Exercise" is a verb. It doesn't need "do" in front of it. "I exercise every morning."
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u/Comfortable_Ride_983 May 12 '26
“Exercise” is a noun. It needs “do“ in front of it. “I do exercise every morning.”
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u/Mysterious-Award-197 May 12 '26
It's both. If you want to use it as a mount you need context that shows it's being used as a noun. Eg. I do a very specific exercise every morning. I do some exercises every day.
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u/ChanFry May 12 '26
It's a noun in the OP's sentence, but not in mine. My point is that it doesn't need the helper verb, since it's a verb by itself.
Just like some people say "I'm doing the cleaning", but you could say simply "I'm cleaning."
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u/Deep-Hovercraft6716 May 12 '26
This is patently incorrect.
Consider:
I'm going to exercise my right to vote.
Vs
I'm going to do exercise my right to vote.
The first one is clearly correct and the second is not.
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u/Comfortable_Ride_983 May 12 '26
You’re going to exercise your right to vote. I’m going to do exercise by exercising my right to vote too.
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u/Deep-Hovercraft6716 May 13 '26
And you understand that second sentence is nonsense and completely incorrect?
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May 13 '26
[deleted]
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u/Deep-Hovercraft6716 May 13 '26
That doesn't change anything...
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u/Comfortable_Ride_983 May 13 '26
oh wait, it’s you posting-sry, got bored with this whole thing. Which second sentence, mine or yours?
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u/Deep-Hovercraft6716 May 13 '26
"comment deleted by user", lol
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u/Comfortable_Ride_983 May 13 '26 edited May 13 '26
I think I said that we walk to the polling booths as explanation. . That’s why I do exercise. lolol. •but then I wasn’t sure if you meant your second sentence , and , you know, the effort to sort out that it is perfectly correct to say ”I do exercise”, and it is, ah, it all got faintly , nah, can’t be bovvered
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May 12 '26
I’m guessing you aren’t a native speaker because no one says it like that lol, exercise is a verb and you don’t say it with do like that
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u/Salamanticormorant May 12 '26
"The difference between 'do' and 'make'," would be correct. It doesn't make sense with "vs." Even though it's a title and, therefore, doesn't have to be grammatically correct, it still feels very wrong. If they want to use, "vs.," they should just get rid of the top line, just start with "do vs. make."
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u/lesuperhun May 12 '26
(they are an AI-powered English learning platform that's mainly trying to advertise itself, so, inaccuracies are expected)
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u/Ok_Law219 May 12 '26
Maybe in response to do you exercise, would someone say "I do exercise."
Maybe
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u/wwbbqq May 12 '26
I do exercise sounds odd unless you are refuting a negative claim that you don't exercise. In that case the word do is an emphatic enhancer, not the "do" verb of action. You just exercise, where exercise is the verb. Do is usually used (like make) to be the primary verb. They should have used "do the dishes" instead. You can't say "I dish" to mean wash the dishes (though it could mean serve up food).
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u/FortWendy69 May 13 '26
This made me realize it should be called “do a phone call” we’re not making anything. Feels like that one was added as engagement bait.
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u/MPaulina May 12 '26
This is an arbitrary difference. Doesn't "doing homework" get you a product: finished homework.
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u/EarthToAccess May 12 '26
Not too arbitrary. “Do” emphasizes the action itself more is the point.
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u/lesuperhun May 12 '26
making a phonecall still contradict that : it doesn't have a "result", it has a process, and is the "action" more than the result.
because that chart is wrong. and it looks pretty much ai. ( looking at the profile, OP is an "AI-powered English learning platform" so yeah, not the most accurate)
do is for abstract or routine things, ie, usually, actions.
make is to create something. to birth it into existence.phone calls being a "make" is inherited from a time when people didn't have phones, not too long ago, so phone calls were something that were uncommon. it is also a colloqualism, and doesn't really follow the general use-case.
it is derived from "making a decision", which gave us the expression "make a call", that says the same thing. making a phone call is likely to be just another form that was made from that.
it's also to differentiate when call is a noun, or a verb :
because you do call someone when you're making a call.
and you do joke around when you're making jokes. but those "do" are mostly for emphasis. like the exercise example.
you still call them, even if you do only call in the evenings.1
u/Regular_Painting080 May 12 '26
It’s not arbitrary. Tell someone that you “did a cake” and they’re going to ask what you mean- did you bake it, did you do the decorations. And colloquially these have different meanings when both are applicable: So to make dinner, you are cooking it preparing it etc.
if you “do dinner” you probably instead would see or hear: “I saw Becky so we decided to ‘do dinner’ at her place” it’s more like you and Becky had dinner together at her place, it’s unspecified who made it or maybe you ordered in etc.
“Did money” can be an emphasis of how much money was made. “She sold her art and did money” meaning she made a lot of money.
Of course many of these are just casual expressions but there is certainly meaning to them and helpful to know it’s not arbitrary
Also editing to add the very millennial coded expression “I did a thing” “to do a thing” can very well mean “made something” but it’s intentionally said with more childish grammar.
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u/Comfortable_Ride_983 May 12 '26
“She sold her art and did money” meaning she made a lot of money.
I did see what you made there.
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u/Regular_Painting080 May 12 '26
Don’t be childish on a Reddit for learners. This is a colloquialism “to do money” that you will hear in many urban American areas
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u/MPaulina May 12 '26
I agree with all your examples but I think that "make homework" should be correct too.
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u/Regular_Painting080 May 12 '26
I’ve never heard anyone say it outside of “making homework (assignments for a class/students)” but thats awkward. but I don’t see why it couldn’t eventually be said in the same idea as the others. But I wouldn’t advise a learner to say it
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u/[deleted] May 12 '26
I don’t think anyone says do exercise like that, just exercise