Adjective order

Two birds, a cage, a
forced marriage – and no
escape!
MAKE & DO
What is it?
In German, machen has many meanings. When we want to express these
meanings in English, we have to use two different words: make and do.
Unfortunately, make and do collocate differently. These collocations have to be
learnt by heart. There are no clear rules of thumb, but there are tendencies when to
use which.
What are the rules?
1) To make is generally used when it means to produce or to create.

Ingo is making a binder with exercises on English grammar.

He'll also make a list of useful grammar books.
2) To do is generally used
a) … for the activity of doing a task or for its fulfilment

He has done a lot of reading on English grammar, so he knows what’s
important.

He is doing his homework now. He will do group work with his friends later.
b) ... for an action which isn’t specified

When Inga saw Ingo sitting at her desk, she asked him what he was doing
there.
c) ... for the meaning to carry out or to complete something

Ingo has done (completed) some research on English grammar exercises and
is now making a binder. He hopes he’ll do (carry out) a good job.
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3) Idiomatic expressions with make and do:
a) to make

to make an attempt
einen Versuch starten

to make an effort
sich anstrengen

to make an excuse
sich herausreden

to make a suggestion
einen Vorschlag machen

to make a decision
eine Entscheidung treffen

to make an exception
eine Ausnahme machen

to make an enquiry
eine Anfrage machen

to make a phone call
einen Anruf machen

to make a mistake
einen Fehler machen

to make a fuss about sth
Wirbel um etwas machen, sich anstellen

to make a noise
ein Geräusch machen

to make arrangements
Vorbereitungen treffen, etwas organisieren

to make a journey/ a trip

to make progress
Fortschritt machen

to make money
Geld verdienen

to make a profit
einen Gewinn machen

to make a fortune
ein Heidengeld verdienen

to make the bed
das Bett machen

to make a fire
ein Feuer machen

to make war
Krieg führen

to make peace
Frieden schließen

to make an offer
ein Angebot machen

to make a plan
einen Plan machen/ schmieden

to make friends with sb
sich mit jemandem anfreunden

to make fun of sb
jemanden auf den Arm nehmen/veräppeln

to make corrections
etwas korrigieren/Korrekturen vornehmen

to make love (to sb)
sich lieben (kleine Ingos mal weghören!)
eine Reise/ einen Ausflug machen
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b) to do

to do one's homework

to do group work

to do somebody good
jemandem Gutes tun

to do (somebody) harm
jemandem Schlechtes tun/ schaden

to do business with
Geschäfte machen

to do one's best
sein Bestes geben

to do somebody a favour
jemandem einen Gefallen tun

to do one's hair
sich die Haare machen

to do one's duty
seine Pflicht tun/ erfüllen

to do 100 km/h
100km/h schnell fahren

to do the dishes
den Abwasch machen

to do the laundry
die Wäsche machen

to do sports
Sport machen
seine Hausaufgaben machen
Gruppenarbeit machen
Ingo’s V.I.P (very important point)
The expressions *to make party or *to make group work do not exist in English and the
expression to make fun does not translate as Spaß machen in the sense of “das Spiel macht
Spaß.”
Instead, please say
to have a party / to go to a party
to do group work
to be fun in the sense of “This is fun!”
Of course, you can have a party whenever you
want. You can throw a party seven times a
week if you wish. You can go to any party
you’re invited to. You can have a lot of fun at
parties. Parties are fun. Your friends will
probably think that you are a lot of fun if
parties are your home base. But at the same
time they wouldn’t make fun of students who
prefer studying and doing group work to
prepare for the next test. Not everyone is born a
party animal!
® TingoLingo