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Do you know the difference between 'My mom made a cake' and 'You have to make that decision.'? Well, we are gonna learn all about it in this lesson.
'Make' is a commonly used verb among native speakers. In this lesson, we will discuss how to learn and use it.
Functions of 'Make'
- The main verb
- The dummy verb
'Make' as the Main Verb
One of the main uses of 'make' is to function as the main verb in the sentence. Below, we are going to analyze it more:
Use
When we use 'make' as the main verb, it can have several meanings. Below, we are going to analyze all:
- When we want to indicate that something is produced, we use 'make':
For my birthday, granny
- When we want to produce a movie, or perform in it, we use 'make':
Joey has
Tarantino has always
- When we want to indicate that something is caused, we use 'make':
The pill
The comedian
- When we want to show someone/something is caused to appear as a particular thing, we use 'make':
What
- When we want to produce the total of two or more numbers, we use 'make':
6 and 6
5 and 75
Position in a Sentence
Since 'make' is the main verb here, we mainly put it after the subject. However, if we have an imperative sentence, please note that we must put the main verb at the beginning of the sentence. Look at the examples below for more clarification:
The old lady
As you can see, 'make' has come after the subject.
I am gonna
'Make' as a Dummy Verb
Use
As mentioned above, 'make' can also be a dummy verb. Dummy verbs (also called delexical verbs) are those that come with a noun and does not have the meaning as when it was used as the main verb. Below is a list of some common nouns used with 'make' as a dummy verb:
- Make a decision
- Make a bed
- Make a guess, comment, etc.
- Make a living
- Make a fortune
Now, let us analyze the different meanings it can have as a dummy verb:
- When we want to prepare a room and bed, we can use 'make' for each:
First
I told Anne to
- When we want to decide, have a guess or leave a comment on something, we use 'make':
Tomorrow, we shall
My brother
- When we want to force someone do something, we use 'make':
Dad
Stop
- When we want to talk about making money, we use 'make':
So, tell me, how do you
I have literally no idea how my friend
- When we want to reach a position in a team, match or something, we use 'make':
I'm really sorry I couldn't
Here, it is indicating that someone wanted to get into a particular team.
He didn't
- When we want to indicate that something will be successful, we can use 'make':
Anyways, the great news really
Only a delicious meal
Position in a Sentence
Since we use 'make' here as a dummy verb, it must come with a specific noun. The only case in which we do not have a noun but the base form of the verb is when we use 'make' to force someone to do something. Look at the following examples for more clarification:
My auntie
As you can see, we have the base form of the main verb after 'make'.
Can you tell Anna to
I was going to
Idioms and Expressions
We have several idioms and expressions in English. Below we are going to learn all about them:
- Make as if to do something: To make a particular gesture indicating that we want to do something:
She
They
- Make it: When we want to indicate that someone is successful in their career:
You couldn't really
Anna didn't
- Make like: To be pretend in order to impress people:
I hate it when she
Why do some people
- Make the most of something/someone: To gain as much advantage or joy from something:
This is the first time I'm going on a trip alone, so I wanna
Not everyone gets this kind of an opportunity so
- Make something one oneself: when we want to indicate that we are successful, we use this idiom:
I really want to
Don't you wanna
- Make much of something/someone: When we want to treat someone/something as important, we use this idiom:
My father always
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