Make vs Do Collocations: 40 Word Pairs Taiwan Learners Mix Up (2026) | Make Do 英文搭配詞

If you have ever paused mid-sentence wondering whether to say 決断を下す または do a decision, you are not alone. For Taiwanese professionals (台灣上班族), the verbs make そして do cause more daily confusion than almost any other piece of English grammar. The reason is simple: Mandarin uses one word — 做 — where English splits the meaning across two completely different verbs. Native speakers do not consciously choose between them; they learn the correct partner words (called collocations, 英文搭配詞) by hearing them repeated thousands of times. As a non-native learner, you can shortcut that process by memorising the fixed pairs.

本文重點: 這篇文章整理40個台灣上班族最常混淆的 make 和 do 英文搭配詞 (英文搭配詞)，幫助你在多益 (多益)、商業英文 (商業英文) email 和辦公室會議中精準使用。掌握這些固定搭配，能讓你的英文聽起來像母語人士，避免最常見的中式英文錯誤。

This guide is built specifically for learners in Taiwan who use English for work — sending office email, sitting in client meetings, preparing for TOEIC (多益) or IELTS, or working with an English tutor (英文家教). Every example here is drawn from real workplace usage in 2026, not abstract grammar drills. By the end of this article, you will have a working mental map of which noun belongs to which verb, plus a memorization trick that handles 80% of cases on its own.

The Core Difference Between Make and Do | 核心差異

Before diving into the lists, internalise this one rule and you will get most cases right on instinct. MAKE is used when something new comes into existence — a product, an idea, a sound, a decision that did not exist before. You are constructing または producing something. DO is used for tasks, duties, jobs, and routine activities — things that need to be performed or completed but do not create a new physical or conceptual object.

Think of it this way: when you make a cake, a cake now exists that did not exist before. When you do the dishes, no new dish appears — you are simply performing a task on dishes that already exist. The same logic applies to make a plan (the plan is created) versus do your homework (the homework is a task assigned to you). This 80/20 rule will not catch every collocation, but it gets you most of the way there before memorisation fills in the rest.

20 Essential DO Collocations | 20個必學「DO」搭配詞

The collocations below cover tasks, duties, and activities that appear constantly in Taiwan office life. Read each one aloud three times — collocations are stored in long-term memory as sound patterns, not isolated words. If you only memorise the spelling, the wrong verb will keep slipping out when you speak under pressure.

• do business — We do business with three suppliers in Taichung.
• 宿題をする — I will do my homework before the meeting.
• do the laundry — She does the laundry on Sundays.
• do exercise — I try to do exercise three times a week.
• do research — The team did extensive research on the market.
• do a favor — Could you do me a favor?
• do the dishes — He always does the dishes after dinner.
• do your best — Just do your best on the TOEIC test.
• do harm — That comment did real harm to the team.
• do well — She did well in the interview.
• do badly — He did badly on the final exam.
• do damage — The typhoon did damage to our office building.
• do your hair — Give me ten minutes to do my hair.
• do nothing — Sometimes the best plan is to do nothing.
• do the math — Do the math — the budget does not add up.
• do a project — We are doing a project on AI in education.
• do an exam — When are you doing the IELTS exam?
• do a course — I am doing a course on digital marketing.
• do the shopping — She does the shopping on Saturday mornings.
• do paperwork — I have to do paperwork all afternoon.

20 Essential MAKE Collocations | 20個必學「MAKE」搭配詞

Now compare the MAKE list. Notice how almost every noun below describes something being created — a decision, a sound, a relationship, an arrangement. This is your strongest signal that MAKE is the correct verb. If you can rephrase the action as create または 生産する, MAKE is almost always right.

• 決断を下す — We need to make a decision by Friday.
• make a mistake — I made a mistake in the report.
• make money — The new product is making money already.
• make friends — It takes time to make friends in a new office.
• make sense — That suggestion makes sense to me.
• make progress — We are making good progress on the project.
• make a difference — Your feedback really made a difference.
• make a phone call — Let me make a quick phone call.
• make an appointment — I made an appointment with the dentist.
• make plans — Have you made plans for Lunar New Year?
• make a noise — Please do not make a noise — the baby is sleeping.
• make a mess — Sorry, I made a mess in the kitchen.
• make a promise — He made a promise he could not keep.
• make breakfast — I make breakfast for my daughter every morning.
• make coffee — Could you make me a coffee, please?
• make a speech — She made a great speech at the conference.
• make a suggestion — May I make a suggestion?
• make an effort — Please make an effort to be on time.
• make sure — Make sure to copy the manager on the email.
• make time — I will make time for the meeting tomorrow.

6 Common Mistakes Taiwan Learners Make | 台灣學習者最常犯的6個錯誤

These six errors appear in almost every English writing class I have taught in Taipei. They are also penalised on TOEIC writing and IELTS speaking sections. Fix these six and your English will immediately sound more natural to native ears.

Mistake 1: do a decision | 做決定的錯誤

間違っている： I need to do a decision today. 右： I need to make a decision today. A decision is something you create from scratch — it did not exist before you considered the options. Always pair it with MAKE.

Mistake 2: make homework | 做作業的錯誤

間違っている： My son has to make homework. 右： My son has to do his homework. Homework is a task assigned by a teacher — it already exists as an obligation. You perform it, you do not create it.

Mistake 3: do friends | 交朋友的錯誤

間違っている： I did many friends at the conference. 右： I made many friends at the conference. A new friendship is created — it brings a new relationship into existence. This is pure MAKE territory.

Mistake 4: make business | 做生意的錯誤

間違っている： Our company makes business with Japan. 右： Our company does business with Japan. Business here means commercial activity — a routine professional task, not a product. Use DO.

Mistake 5: do a mistake | 犯錯誤的錯誤

間違っている： Sorry, I did a mistake in the spreadsheet. 右： Sorry, I made a mistake in the spreadsheet. A mistake is something you produce — it comes into existence when you misjudge something. Always MAKE a mistake, never DO one.

Mistake 6: make sports | 運動的錯誤

間違っている： I make sports on weekends. 右： I do exercise on weekends. Or: I play basketball on weekends. Note the three-way distinction — DO exercise, PLAY a sport, MAKE the team. Each verb has its own zone.

Memorization Tricks That Actually Work | 真正有效的記憶技巧

Most ESL textbooks tell you to memorise long lists. That is the slowest and least durable way to learn collocations. Here are three tricks that work far better, based on how the brain actually consolidates language.

Trick 1: The Creation Test | 創造測試

Before you say the verb, ask yourself one question: does something new come into existence here? A cake, a decision, a sound, a friendship, money, a promise — all created from nothing. If yes, use MAKE. If you are just performing a duty on something that already exists — homework, dishes, business, exercise — use DO.

Trick 2: Pair Learning | 配對學習

Never memorise the verb alone. Memorise the whole two-word unit as if it were a single vocabulary item: makeadecision, dohomework, makeamistake. Linguists call this chunking. Your brain stores chunks more efficiently than individual words, and you will retrieve the correct verb automatically because it is glued to the noun.

Trick 3: Spaced Repetition with Anki | 用 Anki 間隔複習

Put each collocation pair into an Anki flashcard deck. Show only the noun on the front (decision, homework, business, friends), and the full collocation on the back. Review for ten minutes a day for three weeks. By week four, the correct verb will appear in your speech automatically, with no conscious effort. This works because the brain hears the chunk repeatedly until it becomes one unit.

Business English Applications | 商業英文實際應用

Here is the same vocabulary in real workplace context. Notice how natural the verbs sound when paired correctly — and how awkward they would feel reversed.

Hi Mark, I wanted to make sure you saw my last email. We need to 決断を下す on the supplier by Wednesday so the team can do the research on shipping options before month-end. Could you make time for a fifteen-minute call tomorrow? I will do my best to keep it short. Thanks for making an effort to align on this — it really makes a difference to the project timeline.

That single paragraph contains seven collocations. Native speakers do not pick them consciously — they just sound right. With three weeks of focused practice using the methods above, you will reach the same level of fluency.

TOEIC Test Strategy for Collocations | 多益考試的搭配詞策略

The TOEIC (多益) reading and listening sections love testing make/do collocations because they reveal whether a candidate has internalised English or is still translating word-by-word from Mandarin. Part 5 (Incomplete Sentences) regularly features a question where you must choose make または do from a multiple-choice list. Knowing the chunked pair from memory will let you answer in under five seconds, freeing up time for harder questions.

For the listening section, train your ear by watching English news broadcasts and noting every make/do collocation you hear. BBC Learning English and Voice of America Learning English are both free and use these collocations heavily. Within a month of daily listening, your brain will tag the correct verb on the fly.

Frequently Asked Questions | 常見問題

Why do Mandarin speakers struggle with make and do? | 為什麼中文母語者容易混淆？

In Mandarin, the verb 做 covers both meanings — you 做 homework, you 做 a decision, you 做 business, you 做 friends. English forces a binary choice that does not exist in your first language, so without explicit training your brain defaults to whichever verb feels familiar — usually DO, because it sounds closer to 做.

Can both make and do ever be correct? | 兩個動詞都可以用嗎？

Rarely, and the meaning changes. Do a deal (to negotiate) versus make a deal (to reach an agreement) both exist, but most learners should treat these as fixed and pick the most common option. If you are unsure, choose the one you have heard more often in workplace context.

How long until I stop making mistakes? | 多久才能不犯錯？

With twenty minutes of daily practice using Anki and one English podcast a day, most learners report automatic correct usage within four to six weeks. The key is daily exposure, not long weekly sessions. Five minutes every day beats one hour every Sunday.

Should I get an English tutor for this? | 需要找英文家教嗎？

An English tutor (英文家教) helps if you need immediate correction in conversation, which is the fastest feedback loop. But for collocation memorisation specifically, a good app and consistent listening practice is enough — the rules are mechanical, not nuanced.

Sources & Further Reading | 延伸閱讀

• ケンブリッジ辞書 — search any collocation to see usage examples and audio pronunciation.
• Oxford Learner’s Dictionaries — every entry shows the most common verb partners.
• ブリティッシュ・カウンシル — free ESL lessons on collocations and verb usage for intermediate to advanced learners.
• LearnEnglish — British Council — interactive exercises specifically for make vs do.
• BBCラーニングイングリッシュ — daily audio with natural collocation usage you can train your ear on.
• English Collocations in Use (Cambridge) — Amazon search — the standard textbook for collocation study.