Make or Do? The Simple Rule (and the Exceptions You Must Learn)

Level: B1–B2 · 5-minute read

"I did a mistake." "She made her homework." If either sentence sounds fine to you, you are not alone. Make and do are two of the most confused verbs in English, especially for Arabic speakers, because one Arabic verb (عمل / فعل) often covers both.

The good news: there is a simple rule that works most of the time, and a short list of fixed phrases you can memorise for the rest.

The rule

Use make when you create or produce something new. You start with nothing, and at the end something exists that didn't exist before.

• make a cake

• make a plan

• make a decision

• make a phone call

• make a noise

Use do for activities, tasks and jobs. You perform an action, but you don't produce a new object.

• do your homework

• do the shopping

• do the dishes

• do exercise

• do a course

A quick test: ask yourself, "Is there a product at the end?" If yes, make. If it's an activity, do.

The phrases that break the rule

Some combinations don't follow the logic — they are simply the way English speakers say them. These are the ones learners get wrong most often:

Say — Not

• ✓ make a mistake — ✗ do a mistake

• ✓ make progress — ✗ do progress

• ✓ make an effort — ✗ do an effort

• ✓ make money — ✗ do money

• ✓ make friends — ✗ do friends

• ✓ make sure — ✗ do sure

• ✓ do a favour — ✗ make a favour

• ✓ do business — ✗ make business

• ✓ do your best — ✗ make your best

• ✓ do damage — ✗ make damage

Practise: choose make or do

1. Could you ___ me a favour?

2. Everyone ___ mistakes when they learn a language.

3. I need to ___ the laundry tonight.

4. We have to ___ a decision before Friday.

5. She ___ a lot of progress this year.

Answers: 1 do · 2 makes · 3 do · 4 make · 5 made

Want to find your own repeated mistakes?

Make a mistake is one of the 20 English Mistakes Arabic Speakers Make in our free guide — download it from the store at $0. If you want to go further, Find Your Fossilised Errors gives you a 60-question diagnostic that shows exactly which mistakes you keep making, with a personal repair plan.

Practise this: Word Families & Collocations — the word partnerships, like make and do, that make English sound natural.