MAKE vs DO - Learn Collocations Through Stories:Mia's Busy Day
Updated: Aug 18
What Are Collocations?
Collocations are words that naturally go together in English. Native speakers use them instinctively, and using the correct collocation makes your English sound more fluent and natural.
For example, we say "make a decision" instead of "do a decision." Both words mean similar things, but only "make"sounds natural in this phrase.
Let's join Mia on her busy day and learn about the collocations (make vs do) through this fun story!
📚 Related post
🎙️Mia’s Busy Day - Conversational Dialogue Story
Scene 1: Morning Routine
(Mia is in the kitchen making breakfast when her roommate, Lily, walks in.)
👩🦰 Lily: Good morning, Mia! You’re up early.
👩🦱 Mia: Yeah, I need to make a phone call before work.
👩🦰 Lily: Oh, and can you do the dishes before you leave?
👩🦱 Mia: Sure! Let me just make some coffee first.
(QUIZ: Which is correct?)
A) Make the dishes B) Do the dishes
(Answer: _______ )
Scene 2: At Work
(Mia is at the office with her colleague, Jake.)
👨 Jake: Hey, Mia, can you help me do some research for the project?
👩🦱 Mia: Of course! I also need to make a decision about our next marketing campaign.
👨 Jake: Let’s have a meeting later and make a plan together.
(QUIZ: Fill in the blank!)
Mia needs to ______ a decision about the marketing campaign.
(Answer: _______ )
Scene 3: Evening Plans
(Mia meets her friend, Emma, at a café.)
👱🏻♀️ Emma: I had such a busy day! I had to do so many tasks at work.
👩🦱 Mia: Same here! But I’m happy I could make time to meet you.
👱🏻♀️ Emma: Let’s make plans for a weekend trip soon!
👩🦱 Mia: That sounds great! Oh, can you do me a favor and remind me to book the hotel?
(QUIZ: True or False?)
We say “Do a plan”.
(Answer: _______ )
Scene 4: Wrapping Up the Day
(Mia returns home and talks to Lily.)
👩🦰 Lily: So, did you get everything done today?
👩🦱 Mia: Yes! I helped Jake do research, I made an important decision, and I even did some exercise after work!
👩🦰 Lily: Wow, you were productive! Now, let’s make some popcorn and watch a movie.
Mia’s Busy Day Quiz Answer:
Scene 1: Morning Routine (Answer: B) Do the dishes ✅)
Scene 2: At Work (Answer: Make ✅)
Scene 3: Evening Plans (Answer: ❌ False! We say “Make a plan”) ✅
(FINAL QUIZ: Choose the correct collocation!)
Do / Make a promise
Do / Make the laundry
Do / Make a mistake
Do / Make business
(Answers: 1. Make, 2. Do, 3. Make, 4. Do) ✅
The End! 🎬
Final Challenge: Try writing about your own busy day using at least 5 collocations from the story!
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A. Learn Collocations Make vs. Do – What’s the Difference?
Both "make" and "do" are used in collocations, but they have different meanings:
Verb | Usage | Examples |
Make | Focuses on creating, producing, or causing something | make a mistake, make dinner, make money, make a plan |
Do | Focuses on actions, tasks, and work | do homework, do the laundry, do a job, do exercise |
B. How to Use Make vs. Do in Sentences
🔹 Make (Creating or producing)
✔ She made a cake for her sister’s birthday.
✔ I need to make a phone call before the meeting.
✔ We should make a list of things to buy.
🔹 Do (Actions or responsibilities)
✔ Have you done your homework yet?
✔ I do yoga every morning to stay fit.
✔ She did well on her exam.
C. Common Collocations with Make & Do
✅ Collocations with "Make"
make a decision → I need to make a decision about my job.
make a mistake → She made a mistake on the test.
make money → He makes money by selling handmade jewelry.
make an effort → You must make an effort to improve your English.
make a noise → Please don’t make too much noise in the library.
✅ Collocations with "Do"
do homework → I always do my homework before dinner.
do the laundry → She does the laundry every Sunday.
do a favour → Can you do me a favour and help with this?
do your best → Try to do your best in the competition!
do business → Our company does business with clients worldwide.
🎥 Watch the video ⬇️:Learn Grammar Through Stories
👉 Collocations MAKE vs DO - Mia's Busy Day
Practice Exercise 📝
Fill in the blanks with make or do:
I need to ______ a phone call.
Could you ______ me a favour?
He ______ a lot of mistakes in his report.
Let’s ______ some research before traveling.
She always ______ her best at work.
(Answers: 1. make, 2. do, 3. made, 4. do, 5. does)
🌟 5 Effective tips to learn collocations easily and naturally!
1️⃣ Learn Collocations in Context
✔ Read short stories, dialogues, and real-life examples (like Mia’s Busy Day!).
✔ Watch English videos and notice word pairs (e.g., make a mistake, do homework).
2️⃣ Group Collocations by Topic
✔ Organize words into categories (e.g., work, daily life, travel).
✔ Example:
Work: do research, make a decision
Cooking: make breakfast, do the dishes
3️⃣ Use Flashcards & Mind Maps
✔ Write the collocation on one side and an example sentence on the other.
✔ Create word maps (e.g., “make” in the center with branches: make a plan, make friends).
4️⃣ Practice with Gap-Fill Exercises
✔ Complete sentences with the correct collocation:
“I need to _____ a phone call before the meeting.” (make/do?)
5️⃣ Speak & Write Regularly
✔ Use collocations in your daily writing & speaking.
✔ Challenge: Try to use 3 new collocations per day!
🗣️ Let’s practise together!
💬 Comment Below ⬇️ :
1.What’s one thing you always “do” every day?
2.What’s the last important decision you “made”?
💬 Discussion Topics: Mia’s Busy Day
After reading the story or watching the video, use these questions to practise make and do in real-life conversations.
🌞 1. Your Busy Day
Mia had a very busy day. What about you?
What do you usually do in the morning?
What household tasks do you do every week?
Do you make breakfast or buy it?
How do you make time for yourself when you're busy?
What do you usually do after work or class?
Useful collocations: do the laundry, do the dishes, do exercise, make breakfast, make time
💼 2. Work & Study
Mia had to do research and make a decision at work.
What kind of tasks do you usually do at work or school?
Do you ever have to do research?
Is it easy or difficult for you to make decisions?
What's an important decision you had to make recently?
How do you make a plan when you have a big project?
💡 Challenge: Try to use at least 3 make/do collocations in your answers.
🤔 3. Making Decisions
We all make decisions every day.
Discuss:
Are you good at making decisions?
Do you make decisions quickly or take a long time?
Do you ask other people for advice before making a decision?
What's one small decision you made today?
What's the biggest decision you've ever made?
Useful expressions:
make a decision
make a choice
make a plan
make up your mind
🏠 4. Household Chores
Mia and Lily talked about doing the dishes.
Which household chores do you enjoy?
Which chores do you hate doing?
How often do you do the laundry?
Who usually does the cooking in your home?
Do you think everyone should do their share of the housework?
⭐ Fun question: If you could pay someone to do one household chore for you forever, which one would you choose?
💕 5. Friends & Social Life
Mia made time to meet Emma.
How do you make time for your friends?
How often do you meet your friends?
Do you usually make plans in advance or decide at the last minute?
Have you ever made a promise to a friend?
What's something you enjoy doing with your friends?
😅 6. Mistakes & Learning
Everyone makes mistakes!
Do you worry about making mistakes when you speak English?
What's a funny mistake you've made recently?
What can we learn from our mistakes?
Do you think it's better to make mistakes or avoid taking risks?
What do you do when you make a mistake?
💡 English learner tip: Making mistakes is a normal and important part of learning a language. Don't be afraid to make mistakes!
🌱 7. Making an Effort
Mia is making an effort to manage her busy day.
What are you making an effort to improve?
Do you make an effort to practise English every day?
What helps you stay motivated?
When was the last time you made an effort to help someone?
Is making an effort always enough to succeed?
🎯 8. Make or Do? Challenge
Work with a partner. Take turns choosing a phrase and making a sentence.
MAKE
make a decision
make a mistake
make a plan
make a promise
make an effort
make time
make friends
make a phone call
DO
do homework
do research
do the laundry
do the dishes
do exercise
do someone a favour
do your best
do housework
Challenge: Can you have a one-minute conversation using at least 5 of these collocations?
🌟 Personal Challenge
Complete these sentences with your own ideas:
Every day, I do ____________.
This week, I need to do ____________.
Recently, I made ____________.
I need to make ____________ soon.
I'm making an effort to ____________.
One thing I really enjoy doing is ____________.
❓ Frequently Asked Questions About Make & Do Collocations
1. What are Collocations?
Collocations are words that commonly and naturally go together in English. For example, we say make a decision, make a mistake, and do homework. Learning Collocations can help you sound more natural and fluent in English.
2. What is the difference between make and do?
Generally, make is used when we create, produce, or cause something, while do is often used for activities, tasks, work, and responsibilities.
Examples:
make a plan
make a decision
make a mistake
do homework
do the laundry
do some research
However, these are patterns rather than strict rules, so it's best to learn common make/do Collocations as phrases.
3. Do I say “make homework” or “do homework”?
We say do homework.
❌ I need to make my homework.
✅ I need to do my homework.
Do homework is a very common English collocation.
4. Do I say “make a decision” or “do a decision”?
We say make a decision.
✅ She needs to make a decision.
❌ She needs to do a decision.
You can also say make a choice and make up your mind.
5. Do I say “make a mistake” or “do a mistake”?
We say make a mistake.
✅ I made a mistake in my English test.
❌ I did a mistake in my English test.
Remember: make a mistake.
6. Is “do research” correct?
Yes! We normally say do research.
For example:
Mia needs to do some research before making a decision.
You can also say conduct research, especially in more formal or academic English.
7. What are some common make Collocations?
Here are some useful examples:
make a decision
make a mistake
make a plan
make a promise
make an effort
make a phone call
make money
make friends
make time
make a choice
8. What are some common do Collocations?
Some useful do Collocations include:
do homework
do the laundry
do the dishes
do housework
do exercise
do research
do your best
do someone a favour
do business
do a job
9. Why is it difficult to know when to use make or do?
Because there isn't always a simple grammar rule that tells you which verb to choose. English speakers learn many Collocations as fixed or familiar word combinations.
Instead of learning just:
decision = decision
try learning:
make a decision
This helps you remember the correct verb automatically.
10. What's the best way to learn Collocations?
Try learning Collocations in context, rather than memorising long lists.
For example, instead of memorising make a decision, use it in a sentence:
I'm not ready to make a decision yet.
You can also:
📖 Read short stories and dialogues.
🎬 Watch English videos.
✍️ Write your own example sentences.
🗣️ Use new Collocations when speaking.
📝 Practise with gap-fill exercises.
🔄 Review the same Collocations regularly.
The goal isn't to learn hundreds of Collocations at once. Learn a few, use them often, and gradually build your vocabulary.
11. How many make and do Collocations should I learn at once?
Start with 5–10 useful Collocations and practise them until they feel familiar.
For example:
MAKE: make a decision, make a mistake, make a plan, make an effort, make a phone call
DO: do homework, do research, do the laundry, do the dishes, do your best
Once you are comfortable with these, add more.
12. Can I learn Collocations through stories?
Yes! Stories are a great way to see Collocations in context.
In “Mia’s Busy Day,” you can see how make and do are used in natural conversations:
“I need to make a phone call.”
“Can you do the dishes?”
“I need to make a decision.”
“Can you do me a favour?”
Seeing and hearing these phrases in context can make them easier to remember and use.
🌟 Ready to Practise?
Now that you've learned the difference between make and do, try the
Mia's Busy Day worksheet and see how many collocations you can remember!
👉 Can you get 10/10?
🎯Need More Practice?
Learn Grammar Through Stories
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