Make 还是 Do？一条规则解决 80% 的情况

1规律确实存在，只是没人教

问大多数老师 make 和 do 的区别，得到的回答往往是「没规律，背就行了」。这话并不准确。两者底下有一条真实的语义分界线，虽然它无法涵盖全部，但覆盖面足够大，值得在开始背清单之前先学会。

你 make a cake —— 动手之前根本没有蛋糕。你 do the washing-up —— 碗碟本来就在，你只是对它们执行一项任务。你 make a decision —— 在你做出决定之前，那个决定并不存在。你 do your homework —— 作业是别人布置的，你只是把它完成。

所以 make 后面接的多是你产出的具体或抽象事物（a cake、a mistake、a promise、a mess），而 do 后面接的多是活动、家务和泛指词（work、homework、exercise、something、nothing、anything）。

试一试：___ your best. ___ a suggestion. ___ the shopping. ___ progress.

Do your best（一项活动）、make a suggestion（你产出了它）、do the shopping（一件差事）、make progress（你产生了它）。四个全都符合规律。

Tip: 在急着死记之前先问自己：我是在产出新东西，还是在执行一项活动？光这一个问题就能解决绝大多数情况。

2Make：你造出了原本不存在的东西

一旦你把 make 理解成「产出」，一大片看似杂乱的词汇就会自动排好队。

• make a cake, make coffee, make dinner, make a sandwich
• make a copy, make a list, make a note
• make furniture, make clothes, make a film

• make a decision — it did not exist until you made it
• make a mistake — you produced it
• make a promise, make an offer, make a suggestion
• make a plan, make an appointment, make arrangements
• make progress, make an effort, make an attempt
• make friends, make an impression, make a difference

真正值得研究的是抽象那一组，因为学习者正是在那里犹豫。注意每一项都是靠这个动作本身才诞生的：承诺在被许下之前并不存在，预约在被订下之前也不存在。这个动词做的事，和规则说的一模一样。

Make 同样用于制造声音和引发反应：make a noise、make a sound、make a fuss、make someone laugh、make someone cry。同样地，这些都是上一秒还不存在的产物。

make money 值得单独提一句，因为学习者常常顺手写成 do 或 earn。表示「赚钱、创造收入」的标准搭配是 make money；earn 专指挣工资。"The company makes money" 和 "I earn a salary" 都很自然。

Tip: 如果宾语是因为这个动作才出现的东西，那几乎可以肯定该用 make。

3Do：你在执行一项活动

Do 管的是动作、任务和职责 —— 它们以「活动」的形式存在，而不是以「产物」的形式存在。

• do work, do a job, do a task
• do homework, do an exercise, do a course
• do research, do an experiment
• do business, do a deal
• do exercise, do yoga, do sport, do karate
• do the shopping, do the cooking, do the cleaning

• do something, do nothing, do anything, do everything
• do what you want
• What do you do? — meaning what is your job
• do your best, do your duty
• do someone a favour
• do good, do harm, do damage

第二组更重要。只要宾语是泛指词 —— something、nothing、anything、everything、what —— 英语一律用 do，没有例外。"I need to do something" 是对的；"I need to make something" 的意思是你打算动手做个东西出来。正是这种绝对的稳定性，让它成为这个话题里少数几条真正没有例外的规则之一。

Do 也用于职责和义务：do your duty、do the right thing、do your bit、do time（服刑）。共同点都是「履行」而不是「创造」。

Tip: 任何泛指词 —— something、anything、nothing、everything —— 都配 do。这一条从不例外，而且覆盖了日常口语里多得惊人的一部分。

4make 的日常搭配

这些是你最常需要用到的。请整块地背，因为母语者就是整块存、整块取的。

• make a decision — Have you made a decision yet?
• make a mistake — Everyone makes mistakes
• make an appointment — I made an appointment with the dentist
• make a phone call — I need to make a call
• make plans — We're making plans for the summer
• make an effort — Please make an effort to be on time
• make progress — She's making good progress
• make a mess — Don't make a mess in the kitchen
• make a noise — The neighbours are making a noise
• make friends — He makes friends easily
• make sure — Make sure you lock the door
• make sense — That doesn't make sense
• make up your mind — Make up your mind, we're late
• make the bed — an exception, covered in section ten

其中两个格外值得注意。make sure 是英语口语里最有用的短语之一，在各种说明和叮嘱中反复出现。make sense 同样高频，而且没有 do 的对应说法 —— "do sense" 不是英语。

Tip: make up your mind、make sure 和 make sense 都是高频且完全固定的表达。把它们当作整块来练，你就再也不用临时拼装。

5do 的日常搭配

do 这边的对应清单，同样最好整块地记。

• do your homework — Have you done your homework?
• do the washing-up / the dishes
• do the laundry / the ironing
• do the shopping
• do your hair, do your nails, do your make-up
• do exercise, do sport
• do your best — Just do your best
• do someone a favour — Could you do me a favour?
• do business — We do business with them
• do damage / harm — The storm did a lot of damage
• do well / badly — She did well in the exam
• do the right thing
• do time — serve a prison sentence
• do 100 kilometres an hour

do your make-up 很好地提醒我们：规律并不完美 —— 硬要说的话，你确实是在「造」一个妆容。但英语把它当成日常事务来处理，所以 do 胜出。当规律和习惯冲突时，习惯说了算。

do well 和 do badly 值得单独提，因为它们没有 make 的对应说法，而学习者往往会换成一个完全不相干的动词。"She did well in the exam" 才是标准说法；"she made well" 和 "she had good result" 都是错的。

Tip: do me a favour 是英语口语里最常见的客气请求之一。最好随时能脱口而出，因为在对话的压力下按规则现场拼句子，是根本来不及的。

6商务与工作

职场英语两个动词都用得很多，而只要套用「产出」这条规则，分界其实相当清楚。

• make a profit / a loss
• make money
• make an offer
• make a deal — also do a deal, both are used
• make a presentation — also give a presentation
• make a complaint
• make a payment
• make a booking / a reservation
• make a proposal
• make redundancies

• do business with someone
• do a job
• do overtime
• do the accounts / the books
• do research
• do a course / do training
• do an internship
• do market research
• do paperwork

分工基本贴合规则：利润、报价、投诉和付款都是由这个动作产出的；生意、工作、研究和文书则都是被执行的活动。make a deal 和 do a deal 都成立，美式英语里 make 略常见一些。

在大多数职场里，give a presentation 比 make a presentation 更常见，而两者都不能用 do。同样地，你可以说 give a speech 和 make a speech，但绝不能用 do。

Tip: 备考 CELPIP 或雅思口语的工作类话题时，这里的 make 清单性价比很高：make a profit、make an offer、make a complaint 和 make a payment 都很地道，而且没有一个是学习者能自己想出来的。

7家务：do 一统天下的领域

家务活几乎完全是 do 的地盘，只有少数几个重要例外。

• do the washing-up / do the dishes
• do the laundry / do the washing
• do the ironing
• do the cleaning / do the housework
• do the vacuuming / do the hoovering
• do the gardening
• do the shopping
• do the cooking

这里的规律是：家务搭配 do 时要带定冠词 —— do THE washing、do THE ironing。那个冠词是短语的一部分，去掉就不对味 —— "I did washing yesterday" 并不自然。

Tip: 家务值得成块地练，因为它在日常对话里出现频率极高，而且几乎清一色用 do —— 一旦看出规律，说对就很容易了。

8换个动词就换个意思的成对说法

有几个短语两个动词都能配，但意思真的不一样。这些必须记准，因为选错不会产生语法错误 —— 它会让你说出另一句话。

• make an exam — create the paper as a teacher · do an exam — sit it as a student
• make a course — design it · do a course — study it
• make the dinner — cook it · do the dinner — informal, prepare the whole meal and table
• make well — not English · do well — succeed
• make good — succeed in life, quite idiomatic · do good — help people
• make time — free up time deliberately · have time — simply possess it

考试那一对对学习者最重要，因为它出现得太频繁，而选错会把你的身份整个颠倒过来。"I made an exam yesterday" 是在告诉对方：你是出卷子的老师。如果你是去考试的人，那就是 did an exam 或 took an exam。

美式英语里最常见的是 take an exam 和 take a test；do an exam 更偏英式。两者都对，而且都不用 make。

make time 非常实用，却常被忽略："I'll make time for it this week" 的意思是你会刻意腾出时间，比单纯「有时间」语气强得多。它完全符合「产出」这条规则。

Tip: 如果这一节你只学一对，就学 make an exam 和 do an exam 的区别。它最容易让别人误会你到底是谁。

9Make someone do something —— 使役用法

Make 还有第二重语法身份，和 make 还是 do 的选择毫无关系，最好把它清楚地分开，免得越学越乱。

• She made me wait for an hour. — not made me to wait
• That film made me cry.
• You can't make him apologise.
• The news made everyone nervous. — make + person + adjective also works
• He was made to leave. — in the PASSIVE, to reappears

被动语态是把所有人都绊倒的例外：主动的 make 不带 to，被动的 be made 却要带。"They made him sign" 变成 "He was made to sign." 这里没有什么逻辑可背；英语就是这么运作的。

对比 let，它同样接动词原形 —— "She let me go" —— 再对比 allow，它要接 to："She allowed me to go." make 和 let 是一路的；allow 和 force 是带 to 的另一路。

Tip: make me laugh、make me cry、make me think —— 都是高频表达，都用动词原形，都不带 to。三个短语，结构就学会了。

10只能死记的例外

第一节的规律已经覆盖了大部分地盘。下面这些是剩下的部分 —— 它们和规律相抵触，只能当作事实记住。

• make the bed — a task, but takes make
• make your hair — WRONG; it is do your hair
• do your make-up — creating a look, but takes do
• make a bed vs do the beds — both exist, hotel staff do the beds
• do someone good — It'll do you good, meaning benefit
• make good — succeed, idiomatic and dated
• do a favour — not make a favour
• make a fuss — not do a fuss
• do without — manage in the absence of something
• make do — manage with what you have, and yes, it uses both

Tip: 别试图在 make the bed 或 do your make-up 里找逻辑。语言里有化石，这两个就是。把力气花在规律上，例外靠阅读慢慢吸收就行。

11三十个句子，逐句订正

先把右边遮住，自己改完再看答案。这些都是真实学习者英语中最常出现的错误。

• I have to make my homework → I have to do my homework
• She made a mistake in the report → correct as written
• Can you make me a favour? → Can you do me a favour?
• I need to make the washing-up → I need to do the washing-up
• He did a decision last night → He made a decision last night
• Did you make the exam yesterday? (as a student) → Did you do the exam yesterday?
• We're doing progress → We're making progress
• I must make some exercise → I must do some exercise
• She did a promise → She made a promise
• Please make your best → Please do your best
• They did a lot of noise → They made a lot of noise
• I want to make something for dinner → correct as written
• I want to make something this weekend (activity) → I want to do something this weekend
• He makes business with China → He does business with China
• Don't do a mess → Don't make a mess
• She is making the housework → She is doing the housework
• That doesn't do sense → That doesn't make sense
• I did an appointment with the doctor → I made an appointment with the doctor
• The company did a big profit → The company made a big profit
• He did me to wait → He made me wait
• She made me to laugh → She made me laugh
• He was made leave the building → He was made to leave the building
• I need to do my hair → correct as written
• I need to make my make-up → I need to do my make-up
• Can you make the beds, please? (hotel) → Can you do the beds, please?
• I'll make the bed before we go → correct as written
• The medicine will make you good → The medicine will do you good
• She did well in her exams → correct as written
• We'll have to do with what we have → We'll have to make do with what we have
• I made a lot of friends there → correct as written

Tip: 其中有六句本来就是对的。如果你把它们改了，说明规则你已经掌握，只是用得太狠 —— 而这正是学这对动词时再正常不过的第二阶段。

12按母语者使用的方式来学搭配

这个话题属于搭配（collocation），而搭配恰恰是词汇里最不吃「清单」、最吃「接触量」的那一部分。

原因在于存储方式。母语者不会临时把 make 和 decision 拼起来；他们把 make a decision 当作一个整体存下来，再整块取出。所以他们从不迟疑，也从不犯这个错。你的目标就是建立同样的整块存储，而这只有在真实句子里反复遇到同一个短语时才会发生。

这也解释了为什么啃 make 和 do 的对照表几乎没什么效果。表格训练的是「在无限时间里从两个选项中挑一个」；而对话既不给你选项，也不给你时间。真正能用上的，是你已经听过五十遍的那个语块。

• 看或听任何偏口语的内容 —— vlog 和访谈里这两个动词密度极高
• 每次听到 make 或 do，都把整个短语记下来，绝不只记动词
• 新短语按主题分组 —— 工作、家庭、学习 —— 而不是按动词分组
• 把完整句子存下来，因为搭配才是记忆单位
• 当天之内在自己的表达中主动用上其中三个

「按主题而不按动词分组」这一点值得认真对待。按 make 一栏、do 一栏来背的学习者，往往记住了两栏，却忘了哪个词在哪一栏。而把「家务要说的话」整套学下来的人记得住，因为这些内容锚定在一个具体场景上。

Tip: FlexiLingo 会给 YouTube 和播客加上互动字幕，你可以点击任意单词查看释义和 CEFR 等级，并连同它出现的整句一起保存 —— 这正是本节所说的那个「整块短语」单位。