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COLLOCATION (1)

___________________________

Why learn Collocations?

✓ Give you the most natural way to say something.

✓ Give you alternative ways of saying something, which may be more colorful/ expressive
or more precise.

✓ Improve your style in writing.

Using your dictionary

In the Cambridge Advanced Learner’s Dictionary, common and useful collocations are given
in bold type.

Another simple way to find more about collocations is to look them up at

http://www.freecollocation.com/

DO and MAKE

✓ Use DO for actions, obligations, and repetitive tasks.

✓ Use MAKE for creating or producing something, and for actions you choose to do.

✓ DO generally refers to the action itself, and MAKE usually refers to the result.

Common English Collocations with DO

1. Housework

do the housework After I got home from the office, I was too tired to
do the housework.

do the laundry I really need to do the laundry – I don’t have any

clean clothes left!

do the dishes I’ll make dinner if you do the dishes afterwards.

do the shopping I went to the bank, did some shopping, and mailed
a package at the post office.

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2. Work/ study

do work I can’t go out this weekend – I have to do some

work on an extra project.

do homework You can’t watch any TV until you’ve done your

homework.

do business We do business with clients in fifteen countries.

do a good/ great/ terrible job She did a good job organizing the party.

do a report I’m doing a report on the history of American

foreign policy.

do a course We’re doing a course at the local university.

3. Take care of your body

do exercise I do at least half an hour of exercise every day.

do your hair I’ll be ready to go in 15 minutes – I just need to do

my hair.

do your nails Can you open this envelope for me? I just did my
nails and they’re still wet.

4. General Good or Bad Actions

do anything / something / everything ✓ Are you doing anything special for your
/ nothing birthday?

✓ You can’t do everything by yourself – let

me help you.

do well I think I did pretty well in the interview.

do badly Everyone did badly on the test – the highest grade

was 68.

do good The non-profit organization has done a lot of good

in the community.

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do the right thing When I found someone’s wallet on the sidewalk, I

turned it in to the police because I wanted to do the
right thing.

do your best Don’t worry about getting everything perfect – just

do your best.

Common English Collocations with MAKE

1. Food

make breakfast/ lunch /dinner I’m making dinner – it’ll be ready in about ten
minutes.

make a sandwich Could you make me a turkey sandwich?

make a salad I made a salad for the family picnic.

make a cup of tea Would you like me to make you a cup of tea?

make a reservation I’ve made a reservation for 7:30 at our favorite

restaurant.

2. Money

make money I enjoy my job, but I don’t make very much money.

make a profit The new company made a profit within its first
year.

make a fortune He made a fortune after his book hit #1 on the

bestseller list.

make $_______ I made $250 selling my old CDs on the internet.

3. Relationships

make friends It’s hard to make friends when you move to a big
city.

make love The newlyweds made love on the beach during their
honeymoon.
= have sex

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make a pass at (= flirt with someone) My best friend’s brother made a pass at me – he
asked if I was single and tried to get my phone
number.

make fun of someone (= tease / The other kids made fun of Jimmy when he got
mock someone) glasses, calling him “four eyes.”

make up (= resolve a problem in a Karen and Jennifer made up after the big fight they
relationship) had last week.

4. Communication

make a phone call Please excuse me – I need to make a phone call.

make a joke He made a joke, but it wasn’t very funny and no

one laughed.

make a point Dana made some good points during the meeting; I
think we should consider her ideas.

make a bet I made a bet with Peter to see who could do more
push-ups.

make a complaint We made a complaint with our internet provider

about their terrible service, but we still haven’t
heard back from them.

make a confession I need to make a confession: I was the one who ate
the last piece of cake.

make a speech The company president made a speech about ethics

in the workplace.

make a suggestion Can I make a suggestion? I think you should cut

your hair shorter – it’d look great on you!

make a prediction It’s difficult to make any predictions about the

future of the economy.

make an excuse When I asked him if he’d finished the work, he

started making excuses about how he was too busy.

make a promise I made a promise to help her whenever she needs it.

make a fuss (= demonstrate Stop making a fuss – he’s only late a couple
annoyance) minutes. I’m sure he’ll be here soon.

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make an observation I’d like to make an observation about our business

plan – it’s not set in stone, so we can be flexible.

make a comment The teacher made a few critical comments on my

essay.

5. Plans and Progress

make plans We’re making plans to travel to Australia next year.

make a decision/choice I’ve made my decision – I’m going to go to New

York University, not Boston University.

make a mistake You made a few mistakes in your calculations – the

correct total is $5430, not $4530.

make progress My students are making good progress. Their

spoken English is improving a lot.

make an attempt / effort I’m making an effort to stop smoking this year.

make up your mind Should I buy a desktop or a laptop computer? I

can’t make up my mind.

make a discovery Scientists have made an important discovery in the

area of genetics.

make a list I’m making a list of everything we need for the

wedding.

make sure Can you make sure we have enough copies of the
report for everybody at the meeting?

make a difference Getting eight hours of sleep makes a big difference

in my day. I have more energy!

make an exception Normally the teacher doesn’t accept late homework,

but she made an exception for me because my
backpack was stolen with my homework inside it.

PRACTICE

Make or do? Read the sentences and fill in the blanks with "make" or "do".

1. Mr. Hill would rather ____ housework than watch television today.

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2. We will need to _______ a birthday cake for Sam because it's his birthday this Thursday.

3. Rachel doesn't want to _____ the washing up. She hates washing the dishes.

4. David wants to ______ a phone call but he can’t. Because the line is busy.

5. George is going to_____ an important exam this Monday. He is so nervous.

6. Scientists should _____ more research on deadly diseases.

7. If you _____ morning exercises regularly, you will feel better.

8. If I had a real treasure map, I would _____ a fortune and buy expensive cars.

9. Henry feels very happy because he will _____ some business with the Chinese.

10. I wish my best friend Steven didn't ______ such jokes. It really disturbs me.

11. Fortune tellers ______ predictions about people's future.

12. The Pearsons ______ the shopping together every weekend.

13. Jason is going to _______ a project to save the fish species in the city lake.

14. Fred is planning to _______ a graduation speech but he doesn't feel ready.

15. It's fun for the Gordon to ______ breakfast on Sunday mornings.

16. My granny never forgets to ____ my hair every morning before school.

17. You'll need some tools before you ____ some gardening.

18. The mayor will ______ an announcement about the water shortage in the town.

19. Do you know how to _______ Turkish coffee?

- Yes, I do.

20. The girls feel sad because they don't know how to ______ their homework.

21. Drinking too much alcohol is said to ______ harm to our health.

A. make B. do C. lead D. take

22. In a modern family, the husband is expected to join hands with his wife to ______ the
household chores.

A. do B. run C. take D. make

(Trích đề thi THPT QG 2016 và 2019)

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