How to use “make”, “do” and “let”
Make and let The verbs “make” and “let” are followed by an object and the infinitive without “to”:
They can’t make you work late.
She made him do the exercise again.She lets the students sing in class.
His parents let him paint his room black.
Be careful: in the passive, “make” is followed by the infinitive with “to”:
They were made to do the exercise again.
“Have” can also be used in this pattern:
Please have your secretary call me as soon as possible.(Please ask your secretary to call me…)
Other verbs not followed by the infinitive + toModal verbs (can, will, would, etc) are followed by the infinitive without “to”:
I can see him clearly.
They will leave early tomorrow.
If I were you, I would talk to her.
See / hear / watch someone followed by the infinitive without “to”:
She saw the girl steal the money. (She saw all the action of stealing.)
I heard him tell her about the party.” (I heard all about the party.)
I watched them do the exercise. (I watched them complete the exercise.)
But remember:
If you follow these verbs with the gerund form (ing), you only see part of the action.
She saw him talking to the teacher. (She didn’t see the whole conversation.)
Make and doIt can be difficult to know when to use “make” and when to use “do”. Here are some tips to help you make the right choice.
We use “make” for more creative activities:
“She makes her own clothes.”"He made a beautiful hat for the wedding.”
We also use “make” to describe functions of speech - what we are doing when we speak:You make
… an offer (I’ll pay you $500 for your car)
… an appointment (Can we meet at 9 am?)
… an arrangement (Let’s meet at the station.)
… a promise (I’ll help you with this photocopying.)
… a threat (If you do that again, I’ll tell him.)
… a compromise
… a suggestion
… a promise
… a mistake
… a decision
… a point
… a complaint
… an excuseThere are also some “fixed expressions” with “make”:
“They made friends when they were at primary school.”"He made fun of her new hairstyle.”
Other expressions are:… make a fuss
… make a fortune
… make money
… make a profit / a loss
… make a journey
… make an effort
… make progress
… make a mess
… make a telephone call
… make a choiceOne expression that uses either “do” or “make” is:
make a deal / do a deal (I’ll do it if you help me.)Using doWe use “do” to refer to jobs, or responsibilities. These are often routine things, which do not involve much creativity or fun:
“I do the shopping once a week.”"He does the gardening every weekend.”"We have to do a lot of work on the house.”
You also do:
… your homework
… the housework
… a job
… the paperwork
… an examThere are some fixed expressions that you can learn which use “do”:
“She does a lot of good in the community.”"This chemical can do a lot of harm.”"She always does favors for her colleagues.” (Do someone a favor - help someone)
Other expressions are:… do something well / badly
… do your best
… do something right / wrong
… do the minimum / the maximum
… do damage(Source: English at Home)Tags: grammar
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