EN 7.

01G - Confusing verbs: make - do - let - have and get

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Objective

You will understand the difference between commonly confused verbs

Make - do and let

To many learners of English, the verb that causes more confusion than any other is 'make'.

Many students often confuse when and how to use 'make' and 'do', and also when and how to use 'make' and 'let'. It is important to
realize that in both cases 'make' takes on a different meaning.

Let's look at 'make' and 'do' first.

Make and do

One of the reasons that these two verbs confuse non-native English speakers is that many other languages only use one verb for both. In
their basic meaning, they are very easy to use correctly. But, like everything in English, there are a lot of exceptions. As with all
exceptions you simply have to learn them. There are no rules to follow!

The basic difference between the two verbs in English is that:

To do means to perform an action.

To make means to create or build something.

'Do' for Activities

Use the verb 'do' to express daily activities or jobs. These are usually activities that produce no physical object.

do homework - do housework - do the ironing - do the dishes - do a job

'Do' for General Ideas

You use the verb 'do' when speaking about general activity but do not specify what that activity is. It is often used with the words
'something - nothing - anything - everything - etc.'

My computer isn't doing anything I want it to do today.

He does everything for us whenever there is an IT problem.

It's doing nothing at the moment.

Important Expressions with 'Do'

There are a number of standard expressions that take the verb 'do'. These are standard collocations (verb + noun combinations) that are
used in English. You have to simply learn these.

do one's best - do harm - do a favor - do business - do badly - do the dishes

do a favor - do good - do well - do your best - do your hair - do your nails - do your worst
'Make' for Constructing - building - creating

Use 'make' to express an activity that creates something that you can touch.

make food - make a cup of tea/ coffee - make a mess

Important Expressions with 'make'

There are a number of standard expressions that take the verb 'make'. Again these are standard collocations (verb + noun combinations)
that are used and you simply have to learn them.

make plans - make an exception - make arrangements - make a telephone call - make a decision - make a mistake - make noise -
make money - make an excuse - make an effort

However, many times in English, we use 'to make', when it would seem to make more sense to use 'to do'. (Or the reverse). This depends
on what the object of the sentence is. For example:

To make the bed

You don't create or build the bed; you perform a task so the sheets of the bed aren't disorganized.

Pregunta1Clasificacin

Decide of the following nouns take the verb 'make' or 'do':

Elementos Sin Clasificar Make

a noise

an application

a profit

a mess

a fool of someone

amends for your behavior

a speech

a journey

a phone call

friends

Do

the cleaning

the shopping

oneshair

a lot of harm

business with someone

me a favour

some work

the housework

the dishes

a good job

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Let and make

Make and let are verbs which indicate choice or lack of it.

Let

Form

LET + someone + VERB

Use

Let is used to give someone permission to do something, or allow someone to do something. Let means allow - enable - or
permit - there is a choice:

The internet has let many small IT companies expand into Europe.

Make

Form

MAKE + someone + VERB

Use

You use make to oblige someone to do something; it also has the meaning of compel; they have no choice and they have to do it.

My boss made me work the whole weekend on the helpline.

The verbs 'make' and 'let' are followed by an object and the infinitive without 'to' and you can't follow either verb by the gerund (verb +
ing).

They can't make you work late.

She made him do the system test again.

She made him talking through the sequence of the system test.

She lets the customer ask many questions

His parents let him phone the helpline.

He let us calling the helpline from work.

BUT in the passive, 'make' is followed by the infinitive with 'to':

They were made to do the exercise again.

Pregunta 1 Rellenar Espacios

Fill the gaps with the correct form of make - makes - let - or lets:

The flu epidemic A makes it impossible to staff the Enquiry Desk all day .

My computer B lets me keep in touch with the office when I'm at home .

With flexitime they C let you work your hours any time between seven in the morning and seven in the evening .

In my company they D make us work set hours , from nine to five .

Watching you work so hard is E making me feel tired .

While she is studying , he doesn't F let her go out during the week .

Did you G make him do his homework ?

A good anti-virus programme H lets you surf the internet without having to worry .

They I make us do this every year , it's so boring ! .

J Let us in !

Pregunta 2 Verdadero o Falso

According to the context, decide if this sentence with 'make' or 'let' is correct (true) or incorrect (false): Verdadero
Falso

A) Professor Yu let her students use a dictionary while they were taking the test.

Pregunta 3 Verdadero o Falso

According to the context, decide if this sentence with 'make' or 'let' is correct (true) or incorrect (false): Verdadero
Falso

A) Diane thinks television is a waste of time, so she won't let her children watch TV.

Pregunta 4 Verdadero o Falso

According to the context, decide if this sentence with 'make' or 'let' is correct (true) or incorrect (false): Verdadero
Falso

A) Marcus let me drive his new BMW. I couldn't believe how quickly it picked up speed.

Pregunta 5 Verdadero o Falso

According to the context, decide if this sentence with 'make' or 'let' is correct (true) or incorrect (false): Verdadero
Falso

A) If you ask me nicely, I'll make you leave early.

Pregunta 6 Verdadero o Falso

According to the context, decide if this sentence with 'make' or 'let' is correct (true) or incorrect (false): Verdadero
Falso

A) The news coverage of the recent tornado was incredibly moving. The interview with the little boy who lost his family
in the tragedy let everyone cry.

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Have

'Have' can also be used in this pattern:

Form

[have + person + verb]

Use

Have means 'to give someone the responsibility to do something.'

Please have your IT engineer call me as soon as possible. (PleaseaskyourITengineertocallme.).

Allow

Form

allow + object ( object = noun or object = gerund {verb +ing})

We don't allow smoking near the computers.

OR

allow + object ( object = noun or pronoun) + to

I allow my daughter to use my computer.

He won't allow us to call the helpline from a mobile phone.

Get

Form

[get + person + to + verb]

Use

You usually use this to mean 'to convince someone to do something' or 'to trick someone into doing something.'

How can the helpline get people to read the instructions before calling?

TV commercials are trying to get people to become more IT literate.

Get vs. Have

Sometimes 'get someone to do something' is interchangeable with 'have someone do something', but these expressions do not mean
exactly the same thing.

I got the engineer to check the software installation. (At first the IT Engineer didn't think it was necessary, but I convinced him to
check the installation.)

I had the engineer check the software installation. (I asked the IT Engineer to check the installation.)

Pregunta 1 Rellenar Espacios

Fill-in-the-gap(s) with the most appropriate text:

How did you A get him to do that job himself ? He B had me do it for him last time ; he always C gets away with

doing nothing . I D got Jenny to help because I had too much to do .

Pregunta 2 Emparejar

Match the phrases to create sentences using 'had' and 'get':

A) She had her hair done and it looked lovely.

B) I had my suit cleaned before I went to the job interview.

C) We are getting a new telephone system installed because the current one is out-of-date.

D) She is going to get the document translated into Spanish so that everyone can understand it.