Do vs make— A2 Grammar Exercises
Published April 3, 2026
Exercise 1 — Gap Fill Select
I usually my homework after dinner.
She a cake for her friend's birthday.
They exercise every morning to stay healthy.
We need to a decision about the trip soon.
He always the cleaning on Saturdays.
Can you me a favour?
She a lot of noise during the party.
We our best to finish the project on time.
They a phone call to the customer yesterday.
I the beds before leaving the house.
It's Sunday morning. You're cleaning the flat, and your flatmate calls from the kitchen: "I'm making breakfast, can you do the dishes?" Two everyday verbs, two different jobs. Make for the food that wasn't there before; do for the task you have to finish.
Do and make are two of the most common verbs in English, and learners mix them up constantly because many languages use just one verb for both. The pattern isn't a grammar rule; it's a question of which verb goes with which noun. Most of these pairs you simply have to learn, but there's a useful mental model that covers many of the cases.
The core idea
Do: for actions, tasks, jobs, and activities. Often something you perform or complete.
Make: for creating or producing something new. Often something you can see, hear, or hold at the end.
Think about the result. After you do the dishes, there are still the same dishes; you've finished an action. After you make a cake, there's a cake that didn't exist before, so you've created something.
- I have to do my homework. (a task)
- She made a cup of tea. (a new thing)
- He's doing the laundry. (a job)
- They made a lot of noise. (produced a sound)
She did the dishes. (She washed them.)
She made the dishes. (She created ceramic plates.)
Common collocations with DO
These are the most useful do collocations at A2 level. Learn them as fixed pairs: the noun and the verb belong together.
| Group | Examples |
|---|---|
| Housework | do the washing-up · do the laundry · do the cleaning · do the ironing · do the dishes |
| School & work | do homework · do a course · do business · do a job · do research |
| Sport & exercise | do exercise · do yoga · do karate · do sport · do gymnastics |
| General & vague | do something · do nothing · do anything · do everything · do well · do badly |
Common collocations with MAKE
Same idea: these are the high-frequency make collocations at A2 level. Many of them involve food, sounds, or decisions: things that come into existence when the action happens.
| Group | Examples |
|---|---|
| Food & drink | make breakfast · make a cake · make a sandwich · make coffee · make dinner |
| Sounds | make a noise · make a sound · make a phone call |
| Decisions & plans | make a decision · make a choice · make a plan · make an appointment |
| Social actions | make a friend · make a mistake · make a promise · make money |
Notice that make works for both physical things (a cake) and abstract things (a decision, a promise). What they share is the idea of producing something that wasn't there a moment before.
Do, make, play, or go?
For sports and activities, English splits a four-way pattern that trips up A2 learners. The verb depends on the type of activity, not the activity itself.
| Verb | Use it for | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| do | Individual activities without a ball | do yoga · do karate · do judo · do gymnastics |
| play | Ball games and games with an opponent | play football · play tennis · play chess · play cards |
| go | Activities ending in -ing | go swimming · go running · go skiing · go shopping |
| make | Not used for sports or activities | make football, make swimming (both wrong) |
Fixed expressions that don't follow the rule
A few common pairs don't follow the create-vs-perform idea. These you just have to memorise.
| Phrase | Why it's tricky |
|---|---|
| do someone a favour | It feels like you're creating something kind for them, but the verb is do. |
| do harm · do damage | You'd expect make here since you produce harm, but these phrases always take do. |
| do your best | Not make your best, even though you're producing your best effort. |
| make an effort | An effort isn't a thing you can hold, yet it takes make, not do. |
| make sure | You're checking, not creating. Fixed phrase, not do sure. |
| make time | To find space in your schedule. Fixed phrase. |
Common mistakes
I make my homework every evening.
I do my homework every evening.
Homework is a task you complete, not something you create. Always do homework.
Can you do a coffee for me?
Can you make a coffee for me?
You're producing the coffee — it didn't exist before. Make goes with food and drink.
She did a big mistake.
She made a big mistake.
Mistake is a fixed collocation with make. The same goes for make a decision and make a choice.
He's making the washing-up.
He's doing the washing-up.
Housework chores all take do: the washing-up, the laundry, the cleaning, the ironing.
I did a phone call to my mum.
I made a phone call to my mum.
A fixed collocation — just memorise it. Make a call, make a phone call — never do.
Can you make me a favour?
Can you do me a favour?
Another fixed phrase. Do a favour — always.
Fixed-phrase reference
Memorise these as chunks. The verb doesn't follow from any rule — it's just the pair English uses.
| Fixed DO phrases | Fixed MAKE phrases |
|---|---|
| do a favour | make sure |
| do your best | make time |
| do your hair | make a phone call |
| do well / do badly | make an effort |
| do harm / do damage | make a mistake |
| do business | make money |
Quick reference
- DO = tasks, jobs, activities, vague actions. Do homework, do the dishes, do exercise, do nothing.
- MAKE = create or produce something new. Make a cake, make a noise, make a decision.
- Housework → do (do the laundry, do the ironing).
- Food and drink → make (make breakfast, make tea).
- Sport & activities → do (yoga, karate), play (football, tennis), go (swimming, running). Never make.
- Exams → take an exam or sit an exam are more common in British English than do an exam.
- Fixed phrases don't follow the rule — memorise them as chunks (see the table above).
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