A ‣ Things we make, do and take

I’ve made a mistake.
I’m afraid I haven’t done my homework.
She took a photo of me this morning.
I haven’t done the housework yet.
They made a big effort to finish the work.
The children are making too much noise.

Sometimes two different verbs are possible.
I’m just going to take/have a shower.
I’m doing/taking a Spanish course next month.
Take/Have a look at these pictures.
I don’t do/take much exercise.
We must make/take a decision.

B ‣ Make

Make can mean ‘to cause something to happen or cause a particular state’.
I like Boris – he makes me laugh.
It made them angry when Karen refused to help with the washing-up.

Make can also mean ‘to force someone to do something’.
My parents made me do my homework when I was a child.
The police made us wait outside the main gates.

If you make friends with someone, you get to know them and like them.
I made friends with a couple of guys from Canada when I was on holiday.

If you make up your mind, you decide something.
He’s made up his mind to leave work at the end of next month.

C ‣ Do

We use do to describe a general action when we don’t know what it is, or there’s no noun.
What shall we do this afternoon?
Don’t just stand there, do something.

If you do your hair/make-up, you make it look nice.
I’ll just do my hair, then we can go out.

If you do your best, you try as hard as possible.
I’m not a good student, but I always do my best.

D ‣ Take

Take can mean to:

1. remove something from a place/person, e.g. I took the key out of my pocket.
2. remove something without permission, e.g. Someone has taken my pen.
3.  accept something, e.g. Did he take the job they offered him? Do they take credit cards there?
4. write something down, e.g. I took notes during the meeting. The man took my name and address.
5. wear a particular size in clothes, e.g. I take size 43 shoes.

If you take it/things easy, you relax and don’t do very much.
I’ll take things easy today.

If you take a break, you stop work and rest for a short period.
Let’s take a ten-minute break.