Vocabulary: Make or Do?

Now let’s prepare for the next worksheet by reading the following exercise.

Saul is starting work at a large hotel. Read his conversation with his new boss, and find three things that are not Saul’s responsibility.

Boss: Welcome to the Strand Hotel. Before you start work, I’d like to go over your daily responsibilities with you. You start at seven o’clock every morning, and your first job is to make the morning tea. Serve it in the dining room at breakfast. Then you must take all the cups out to the kitchen, but you don’t have to do the washing up.

Saul: Do I have to make the breakfast?

Boss: No, the chef does that. While the guests are having breakfast, you must do the general cleaning of the bedrooms, but you don’t have to do the laundry.

Saul: Should I do the hoovering?

Boss: Yes, and you must also make the beds. After that you’re free until 12.30, when you must help the chef to make the lunch. Then make the coffee, collect the cups and that’s all for the day. I hope you’ll be happy here – just do your best, and I’m sure things will go well.

Now read the conversation again. Notice that we say ‘make the tea’, but ‘do the washing up’.  Find four more examples with make and do ...

That’s right!  We use make for: breakfast, the bed, lunch & coffee.  But we use do for: the cleaning, the laundry, the hoovering, and also for the expression ‘do your best’.  And Saul doesn’t have to do the washing up, make the breakfast or do the laundry.

Here’s an interactive worksheet for you to practise some more.

When you finish, click on the blue ‘Finish’ button.  Then click ‘Check my answers’ for instant feedback.  If you make any mistakes, try again until you get it right!  You can make the document full size by clicking on the arrows to the left of the blue ‘Finish’ button.