{"id":5817,"date":"2026-06-24T23:04:49","date_gmt":"2026-06-24T23:04:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/18kenglish.com\/make-or-do-verb-collocations-taiwan\/"},"modified":"2026-06-24T23:06:42","modified_gmt":"2026-06-24T23:06:42","slug":"make-or-do-verb-collocations-taiwan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/18kenglish.com\/vi\/make-or-do-verb-collocations-taiwan\/","title":{"rendered":"Make or Do? The Collocation Trap Taiwan Pros Fall Into | make do \u52d5\u8a5e\u642d\u914d\u8a5e\u5b8c\u6574\u6307\u5357"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>\u672c\u6587\u91cd\u9ede:<\/strong> \u672c\u6587\u6df1\u5165\u89e3\u6790\u82f1\u6587\u642d\u914d\u8a5e (collocations) \u4e2d\u6700\u5bb9\u6613\u51fa\u932f\u7684\u52d5\u8a5e\u642d\u914d,\u7279\u5225\u662f make \u8207 do \u7684\u5dee\u5225\u3002\u53f0\u7063\u4e0a\u73ed\u65cf (Taiwan professionals) \u5728\u5b78\u7fd2\u5546\u696d\u82f1\u6587 (business English) \u8207\u6e96\u5099\u591a\u76ca (TOEIC) \u6642,\u5e38\u56e0\u4e2d\u6587\u76f4\u8b6f\u800c\u9078\u932f\u52d5\u8a5e\u3002\u771f\u6b63\u638c\u63e1\u52d5\u8a5e\u642d\u914d\u8a5e,\u80fd\u8b93\u4f60\u7684\u82f1\u6587\u807d\u8d77\u4f86\u81ea\u7136\u53c8\u9053\u5730,\u800c\u4e0d\u662f\u300c\u7ffb\u8b6f\u8154\u300d\u3002<\/p>\n\n<p>You can drill grammar rules for a decade and still sound foreign the instant you open your mouth. The reason is rarely your tenses or your sentence structure \u2014 it is collocation, the invisible web of which words English speakers expect to hear together. A native speaker says &#8220;make a decision,&#8221; never &#8220;do a decision.&#8221; They &#8220;take a shower,&#8221; not &#8220;do a shower.&#8221; Nobody handed them a rule for any of this; the pairings simply sound right. For Taiwanese professionals, this is exactly where translation quietly betrays you.<\/p>\n\n<p>This guide walks through the verb collocations that ambush even advanced learners in Taiwan \u2014 the make-versus-do battlefield, the so-called delexical verbs like <em>have<\/em> V\u00e0 <em>take<\/em>, and a practical method for getting pairings to actually stick. Get these right and your English stops sounding translated. Get them wrong and a fluent CV can still read as awkward in a meeting.<\/p>\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1080\" height=\"720\" src=\"https:\/\/18kenglish.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/make-or-do-verb-collocations-taiwan-2.jpg\" alt=\"People meeting to discuss app development. Mapbox Uncharted ERG (mapbox.com\/diversity-inclusion) created these images to enco\" class=\"wp-image-5810\" srcset=\"https:\/\/18kenglish.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/make-or-do-verb-collocations-taiwan-2.jpg 1080w, https:\/\/18kenglish.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/make-or-do-verb-collocations-taiwan-2-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/18kenglish.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/make-or-do-verb-collocations-taiwan-2-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/18kenglish.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/make-or-do-verb-collocations-taiwan-2-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/18kenglish.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/make-or-do-verb-collocations-taiwan-2-18x12.jpg 18w, https:\/\/18kenglish.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/make-or-do-verb-collocations-taiwan-2-600x400.jpg 600w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1080px) 100vw, 1080px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">People meeting to discuss app development. Mapbox Uncharted ERG (mapbox.com\/diversity-inclusion) created these images to enco<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What a Collocation Actually Is | \u4ec0\u9ebc\u662f\u642d\u914d\u8a5e<\/h2>\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe width=\"560\" height=\"315\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/xB8ySb_k-ME?feature=oembed\" title=\"Make or Do? The Collocation Trap Taiwan Pros Fall Into\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>A collocation (\u642d\u914d\u8a5e) is a pair or group of words that habitually travel together. &#8220;Heavy rain&#8221; is a collocation; &#8220;strong rain&#8221; is not, even though <em>m\u1ea1nh<\/em> V\u00e0 <em>heavy<\/em> are near-synonyms. &#8220;Fast food&#8221; works; &#8220;quick food&#8221; does not. The words are not wrong individually \u2014 they are simply not the combination English speakers reach for. Collocation is less about logic and more about convention, which is precisely why it cannot be reasoned out from a dictionary.<\/p>\n\n<p>Verb collocations are the highest-stakes category for working professionals because verbs carry the action of every sentence you speak at work. The same English verb can pair with dozens of nouns, and swapping in the &#8220;logical&#8221; verb instead of the conventional one is the single fastest way to mark yourself as a non-native speaker. Consider the families below \u2014 each verb claims its own territory of nouns:<\/p>\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><strong>make<\/strong> + a decision, an effort, a mistake, a profit, progress, an appointment<\/li><li><strong>do<\/strong> + business, homework, the laundry, research, a favour, your best<\/li><li><strong>have<\/strong> + a meeting, a break, lunch, a conversation, an impact<\/li><li><strong>take<\/strong> + a break, a risk, responsibility, notes, a guess, a photo<\/li><\/ul>\n\n<p>Notice that &#8220;have a break&#8221; and &#8220;take a break&#8221; both exist \u2014 English tolerates two correct options here. But &#8220;do a break&#8221; or &#8220;make a break&#8221; (in the resting sense) sound broken. That narrow margin of acceptability is what makes collocations so hard to self-correct.<\/p>\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Why Chinese Speakers Mistranslate Them | \u70ba\u4ec0\u9ebc\u4e2d\u6587\u6bcd\u8a9e\u8005\u5bb9\u6613\u76f4\u8b6f\u51fa\u932f<\/h2>\n\n<p>The root cause is interference (\u6bcd\u8a9e\u5e72\u64fe). In Mandarin, one verb often covers ground that English splits across several. \u505a maps loosely onto both <em>make<\/em> V\u00e0 <em>do<\/em>, so a learner thinking in Chinese has a coin-flip chance of choosing the right English verb. \u958b covers <em>turn on<\/em>, <em>open<\/em>, <em>start<\/em>, V\u00e0 <em>drive<\/em> \u2014 which is exactly how &#8220;open the light&#8221; (\u958b\u71c8) is born. The grammar of the sentence is flawless; only the collocation is off.<\/p>\n\n<p>This is why &#8220;do a decision,&#8221; &#8220;do a mistake,&#8221; &#8220;open the television,&#8221; and &#8220;say a joke&#8221; survive into the speech of otherwise advanced Taiwanese professionals. These errors are invisible from the inside because the Mandarin original is perfectly correct. You are not making a thinking mistake \u2014 you are making a mapping mistake, and the only cure is to learn the English chunk as a single unit rather than assembling it word by word from Chinese.<\/p>\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1080\" height=\"720\" src=\"https:\/\/18kenglish.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/make-or-do-verb-collocations-taiwan-3.jpg\" alt=\"English Lesson Home Work\" class=\"wp-image-5811\" srcset=\"https:\/\/18kenglish.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/make-or-do-verb-collocations-taiwan-3.jpg 1080w, https:\/\/18kenglish.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/make-or-do-verb-collocations-taiwan-3-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/18kenglish.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/make-or-do-verb-collocations-taiwan-3-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/18kenglish.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/make-or-do-verb-collocations-taiwan-3-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/18kenglish.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/make-or-do-verb-collocations-taiwan-3-18x12.jpg 18w, https:\/\/18kenglish.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/make-or-do-verb-collocations-taiwan-3-600x400.jpg 600w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1080px) 100vw, 1080px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">English Lesson Home Work<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The Make vs Do Battlefield | Make \u8207 Do \u7684\u6230\u5834<\/h2>\n\n<p>No pair causes more trouble than <em>make<\/em> V\u00e0 <em>do<\/em>. There is a loose principle underneath them, and while it will not catch every case, it explains the majority. Lean on it as a default, then memorise the exceptions.<\/p>\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">When English Chooses &#8220;Make&#8221; | \u4f55\u6642\u7528 Make<\/h3>\n\n<p>Reach for <em>make<\/em> when something is created, produced, or brought into existence \u2014 a physical object, or an abstract result that did not exist a moment ago. You <em>make<\/em> a decision because the decision is produced by your thinking. You <em>make<\/em> a mistake because the mistake is, unintentionally, created. You <em>make<\/em> a profit, a plan, an effort, a promise, an excuse, and an impression \u2014 each one is a thing your action generates.<\/p>\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>make a decision (\u505a\u6c7a\u5b9a) \u2014 never <em>do<\/em> a decision<\/li><li>make a mistake (\u72af\u932f) \u2014 never <em>do<\/em> a mistake<\/li><li>make an appointment (\u9810\u7d04) \u2014 for the dentist, a client, the bank<\/li><li>make a phone call, make a reservation, make progress (\u6709\u9032\u5c55)<\/li><\/ul>\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">When English Chooses &#8220;Do&#8221; | \u4f55\u6642\u7528 Do<\/h3>\n\n<p>Reach for <em>do<\/em> when you are performing a task, a duty, or unspecified activity \u2014 work that already exists and simply needs carrying out. You <em>do<\/em> the laundry, <em>do<\/em> your homework, <em>do<\/em> the dishes, and <em>do<\/em> business with a supplier. <em>Do<\/em> also fills the gap when the activity is vague: &#8220;What are you doing?&#8221; &#8220;I&#8217;m doing some work.&#8221; If the noun names a chore, a job, or an undefined action, <em>do<\/em> is almost always your verb.<\/p>\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>do business (\u505a\u751f\u610f), do research (\u505a\u7814\u7a76), do a favour (\u5e6b\u5fd9)<\/li><li>do the laundry, do the housework, do the dishes (\u5bb6\u4e8b)<\/li><li>do your best (\u76e1\u529b), do exercise, do your homework<\/li><li>do harm, do damage \u2014 though you <em>make<\/em> a repair afterward<\/li><\/ul>\n\n<p>The acid test for a tricky case: ask whether the noun is a <em>s\u1ea3n ph\u1ea9m<\/em> (something brought into being \u2192 make) or an <em>ho\u1ea1t \u0111\u1ed9ng<\/em> (something performed \u2192 do). &#8220;A decision&#8221; is a product; &#8220;the dishes&#8221; is an activity. The line blurs at the edges \u2014 that is what the exception lists are for \u2014 but this single question resolves the great majority of real workplace sentences.<\/p>\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1080\" height=\"720\" src=\"https:\/\/18kenglish.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/make-or-do-verb-collocations-taiwan-4.jpg\" alt=\"person holding on red pen while writing on book\" class=\"wp-image-5812\" srcset=\"https:\/\/18kenglish.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/make-or-do-verb-collocations-taiwan-4.jpg 1080w, https:\/\/18kenglish.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/make-or-do-verb-collocations-taiwan-4-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/18kenglish.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/make-or-do-verb-collocations-taiwan-4-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/18kenglish.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/make-or-do-verb-collocations-taiwan-4-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/18kenglish.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/make-or-do-verb-collocations-taiwan-4-18x12.jpg 18w, https:\/\/18kenglish.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/make-or-do-verb-collocations-taiwan-4-600x400.jpg 600w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1080px) 100vw, 1080px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">person holding on red pen while writing on book<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Have, Take, and Give: The Delexical Verbs | Have\u3001Take\u3001Give \u7b49\u865b\u7fa9\u52d5\u8a5e<\/h2>\n\n<p>English loves a peculiar move that Mandarin rarely makes: it drains the meaning out of a verb and parks the real meaning in the following noun. Linguists call these delexical verbs (\u865b\u7fa9\u52d5\u8a5e). &#8220;Have a look&#8221; means little more than &#8220;look,&#8221; but the natural, conversational phrasing is the longer one. To English ears, &#8220;Let&#8217;s have a quick chat&#8221; sounds warmer and more idiomatic than &#8220;Let&#8217;s chat quickly,&#8221; even though they mean the same thing.<\/p>\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><strong>have<\/strong> a look, have a rest, have a meeting, have a conversation, have lunch<\/li><li><strong>take<\/strong> a break, take a shower, take a risk (\u5192\u96aa), take notes (\u505a\u7b46\u8a18), take a photo<\/li><li><strong>give<\/strong> a presentation (\u505a\u7c21\u5831), give a speech, give someone a call, give it a try<\/li><\/ul>\n\n<p>This is gold for professionals, because delexical phrasing is the texture of natural business English. &#8220;I&#8217;ll give the proposal a look and we can have a quick call this afternoon&#8221; sounds like a fluent colleague. &#8220;I will look the proposal and we can call quickly&#8221; sounds like a translation. The meaning survives either way \u2014 but only one version earns trust in a meeting room.<\/p>\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1080\" height=\"608\" src=\"https:\/\/18kenglish.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/make-or-do-verb-collocations-taiwan-5.jpg\" alt=\"Cheerful colleagues men and woman are walking outdoors near office center talking smiling enjoying work break and cooperation\" class=\"wp-image-5813\" srcset=\"https:\/\/18kenglish.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/make-or-do-verb-collocations-taiwan-5.jpg 1080w, https:\/\/18kenglish.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/make-or-do-verb-collocations-taiwan-5-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/18kenglish.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/make-or-do-verb-collocations-taiwan-5-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/18kenglish.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/make-or-do-verb-collocations-taiwan-5-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/18kenglish.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/make-or-do-verb-collocations-taiwan-5-18x10.jpg 18w, https:\/\/18kenglish.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/make-or-do-verb-collocations-taiwan-5-600x338.jpg 600w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1080px) 100vw, 1080px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Cheerful colleagues men and woman are walking outdoors near office center talking smiling enjoying work break and cooperation<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Strong Collocations vs Weak Ones | \u5f37\u642d\u914d\u8207\u5f31\u642d\u914d<\/h2>\n\n<p>Not every collocation is equally rigid, and knowing the difference tells you where to spend your effort. Strong collocations are nearly fixed: &#8220;make an effort&#8221; admits almost no substitution \u2014 you cannot &#8220;do an effort&#8221; or &#8220;give an effort&#8221; (in British English) without sounding off. &#8220;Heavy rain,&#8221; &#8220;fast food,&#8221; and &#8220;bitterly disappointed&#8221; are similarly locked. These are the ones worth memorising whole, because guessing rarely lands.<\/p>\n\n<p>Weak collocations are looser. &#8220;A good meal&#8221; tolerates &#8220;a nice meal,&#8221; &#8220;a lovely meal,&#8221; &#8220;a delicious meal&#8221; \u2014 many adjectives fit, so you have room to improvise without error. The practical lesson: pour your study time into the strong, high-frequency pairings that punish wrong guesses, and relax about the weak ones where instinct serves you fine. A good collocations dictionary marks the strong pairs for exactly this reason.<\/p>\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1080\" height=\"796\" src=\"https:\/\/18kenglish.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/make-or-do-verb-collocations-taiwan-6.jpg\" alt=\"study\" class=\"wp-image-5814\" srcset=\"https:\/\/18kenglish.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/make-or-do-verb-collocations-taiwan-6.jpg 1080w, https:\/\/18kenglish.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/make-or-do-verb-collocations-taiwan-6-300x221.jpg 300w, https:\/\/18kenglish.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/make-or-do-verb-collocations-taiwan-6-1024x755.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/18kenglish.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/make-or-do-verb-collocations-taiwan-6-768x566.jpg 768w, https:\/\/18kenglish.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/make-or-do-verb-collocations-taiwan-6-16x12.jpg 16w, https:\/\/18kenglish.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/make-or-do-verb-collocations-taiwan-6-600x442.jpg 600w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1080px) 100vw, 1080px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">study<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Collocations in Business English | \u5546\u696d\u82f1\u6587\u4e2d\u7684\u642d\u914d\u8a5e<\/h2>\n\n<p>In the office, collocation errors carry a higher cost than in casual chat, because business English (\u5546\u696d\u82f1\u6587) runs on a tight set of fixed phrases that clients and colleagues expect verbatim. Multiple-choice sections of the TOEIC (\u591a\u76ca) test these relentlessly precisely because they separate memorised fluency from translated fluency. The good news is that the working vocabulary is finite \u2014 a few dozen verb-noun pairings cover most of what you say at work.<\/p>\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>make a deal, make an offer, make a profit, close a deal, reach an agreement (\u9054\u6210\u5354\u8b70)<\/li><li>meet a deadline (\u8d95\u4e0a\u622a\u6b62\u65e5), meet expectations, hit a target, launch a product<\/li><li>hold a meeting, set up a call, raise a concern, address an issue (\u8655\u7406\u554f\u984c)<\/li><li>take responsibility, take the lead, take minutes, give feedback (\u7d66\u4e88\u56de\u994b)<\/li><\/ul>\n\n<p>Watch the traps especially: you <em>meet<\/em> a deadline, you do not &#8220;catch&#8221; or &#8220;reach&#8221; it; you <em>raise<\/em> a concern, you do not &#8220;open&#8221; it; you <em>reach<\/em> an agreement, you do not &#8220;arrive at the agreement&#8221; the way the Chinese might tempt you to. Each of these is a memorised chunk, and learning them as chunks \u2014 not as words to be reassembled \u2014 is the entire game.<\/p>\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1080\" height=\"720\" src=\"https:\/\/18kenglish.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/make-or-do-verb-collocations-taiwan-7.jpg\" alt=\"English Lesson Home Work\" class=\"wp-image-5815\" srcset=\"https:\/\/18kenglish.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/make-or-do-verb-collocations-taiwan-7.jpg 1080w, https:\/\/18kenglish.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/make-or-do-verb-collocations-taiwan-7-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/18kenglish.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/make-or-do-verb-collocations-taiwan-7-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/18kenglish.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/make-or-do-verb-collocations-taiwan-7-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/18kenglish.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/make-or-do-verb-collocations-taiwan-7-18x12.jpg 18w, https:\/\/18kenglish.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/make-or-do-verb-collocations-taiwan-7-600x400.jpg 600w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1080px) 100vw, 1080px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">English Lesson Home Work<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">How to Learn Collocations That Stick | \u5982\u4f55\u6709\u6548\u8a18\u4f4f\u642d\u914d\u8a5e<\/h2>\n\n<p>The strategy that fails is studying collocations as a list to be memorised cold \u2014 they evaporate within a week. The strategy that works is treating them as chunks you absorb in context and then deliberately reuse. Three habits do most of the heavy lifting.<\/p>\n\n<p>First, record collocations by the noun, not the verb. When you meet a new noun like &#8220;deadline,&#8221; jot the verbs that go with it \u2014 meet, miss, extend, set a deadline \u2014 so your brain stores a ready-made phrase, not an isolated word. Second, read and listen to real business English (emails, podcasts, meeting recordings) with your antenna up for verb-noun pairs, and copy them down verbatim. Third, force production: the morning after you learn &#8220;reach an agreement,&#8221; use it in a real sentence at work. A pairing you have spoken once outlasts a pairing you have read ten times.<\/p>\n\n<p>A dedicated collocations dictionary accelerates all of this \u2014 the Oxford and Cambridge versions list, for any given noun, every verb and adjective that naturally attaches to it, with the strong pairings flagged. Working English (\u82f1\u6587\u5b78\u7fd2) at the chunk level rather than the word level is the structural shift that finally makes your speech sound like a native colleague&#8217;s rather than a careful, correct, faintly foreign translation. If you want a reference on your desk, search for a collocations dictionary and keep it next to your keyboard.<\/p>\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1080\" height=\"720\" src=\"https:\/\/18kenglish.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/make-or-do-verb-collocations-taiwan-8.jpg\" alt=\"Woman's hand writing the word \"audience\" on a whiteboard, with arrows. \" class=\"wp-image-5816\" srcset=\"https:\/\/18kenglish.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/make-or-do-verb-collocations-taiwan-8.jpg 1080w, https:\/\/18kenglish.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/make-or-do-verb-collocations-taiwan-8-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/18kenglish.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/make-or-do-verb-collocations-taiwan-8-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/18kenglish.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/make-or-do-verb-collocations-taiwan-8-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/18kenglish.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/make-or-do-verb-collocations-taiwan-8-18x12.jpg 18w, https:\/\/18kenglish.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/make-or-do-verb-collocations-taiwan-8-600x400.jpg 600w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1080px) 100vw, 1080px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Woman&#8217;s hand writing the word &#8220;audience&#8221; on a whiteboard, with arrows. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n<p>You will not fix every pairing overnight \u2014 there are thousands, and even native speakers occasionally disagree at the edges. But the verbs covered here, <em>make<\/em>, <em>do<\/em>, <em>have<\/em>, V\u00e0 <em>take<\/em>, account for a startling share of the errors that mark Taiwanese professionals as non-native. Tighten those four, learn your phrases as whole chunks, and the &#8220;translation&#8221; sound that no grammar course ever quite removed will finally start to fade.<\/p>\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Sources | \u53c3\u8003\u8cc7\u6599<\/h2>\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Collocation\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Collocation \u2014 Wikipedia<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/dictionary.cambridge.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">T\u1eeb \u0111i\u1ec3n Cambridge<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Oxford Learner&#8217;s Dictionaries<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.britishcouncil.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">British Council \u2014 Learn English<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/s?k=english+collocations+dictionary\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">English collocations dictionary (Amazon search)<\/a><\/li><\/ul>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Why do Taiwanese professionals say &#8220;do a decision&#8221; and &#8220;open the light&#8221;? The culprit is verb collocations. A deep dive into make, do, have, and take \u2014 and how to stop translating from Chinese.<\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5809,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","_kadence_starter_templates_imported_post":false,"_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[207,745,155,1248,1260,1656,1032,633,1237,248,1026],"class_list":["post-5817","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-article-posts","tag-business-english","tag-collocations","tag-english-vocabulary","tag-make-vs-do","tag-verb-collocations","tag-1656","tag-1032","tag-633","tag-1237","tag-248","tag-1026"],"taxonomy_info":{"category":[{"value":23,"label":"Articles"}],"post_tag":[{"value":207,"label":"Business 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