MAKE / DO

_________ continuous effort – not strength or intelligence – is the key to unlocking our potential (Winston Churchill).

• Making

• Doing

Answer explanation

English insists on the idea of producing an effort so we say "to make an effort".

Maybe one day, I will start my company and _______ business.

• make

• do

Answer explanation

In English, we say "to do business" to refer to the activity in general.

After school, you have homework to __________ .

• make

• do

_________ research is to see what everybody else has seen, and to think what nobody else has thought (Albert Szent-Gyorgyi).

• Making

• Doing

Answer explanation

In English, we say "to do research" to refer to the activity in general. We also say "to do a study", "to do a survey" even if in these cases, there is a result and we produce something. These two examples are exceptions.

The fridge is empty; I’m going to _______ grocery shopping.

• make

• do

Answer explanation

In English, we say "to do shopping" to refer to the activity in general.

The day he _______ his speech, the audience ______ too much noise.

• made / was doing

• did / was making

• did / was doing

• made / was making

Answer explanation

Logically, we use "to make a speech" because we insist on the result, on the production of something, here the speech. It is the same with "to make noise" where we insist on producing something.

I have a lot of work _________ today.

• to make

• to do

Answer explanation

Unlike the previous sentence, we could think that "to make work" is more logical because there is also a result and we can see the production of our work. English prefers to insist here on the activity in general and not on the result.

I need to _______ a phone call to __________ an appointment with the doctor because I’m not feeling well.

• make / make

• do / do

• make / do

• do / make

Answer explanation

In English, we say "to make a call" and "to make an appointment" (prendre un rendez-vous) because we produce something and there is a result.

If you don’t ______ mistakes, you can’t ______ decisions. (Warren Buffet, investor and philanthropist)

• make / make

• do / do

• make / do

• do / make

Answer explanation

In English, we say "to make a mistake" and "to make a decision" because we produce something.

At the end of this module, you could _____ a test about the grammar that we have studied so far.

• make

• do

Answer explanation

In this case, "do" is used when we talk from the student's point of view. We use "to make a test" (in the sense of creating the questions, producing the test) when we talk from the teacher's point of view.