Phrasal verbs are basic verbs which can combine with different prepositions and make verbs with completely new and different meanings.
Let us take a look at phrasal verbs based on DO and MAKE:
|
PHRASAL VERBS |
MEANINGS |
EXAMPLES |
|
Do with |
Need or want |
I could do with some food to eat |
|
Do without |
Manage without |
We will have to do without a photocopy machine since it is not working. |
|
Do away with |
Abolish/ get rid of |
Bank robbery was done away with as soon as the police became aware. |
|
Do out of |
To prevent someone from having something/ (to do fraud) |
He did me out of my rightful properties. |
|
Make of |
To think about / opinion |
What do we make of this sudden hartals? |
|
Make up to |
To be nice in order to get something or to compensate |
She made up to me for the fight by giving me a box of chocolates. |
|
Make for |
Move in the direction of |
Let’s make for the shopping place and look for a restaurant on our way. |
There are a lot of other common expressions that are based on DO and MAKE that might have more than one meaning and can be used at different times due to the various meanings:
- Do up – it can mean to “fasten” or to “renovate” or to “put things in one bundle”.
e.g. we plan to do up our old guest house in the vacation.
- Make up – it can mean “to make something more complete” or “to compose of “.
e.g. a human body is made up of seven primary systems one of which is the Nervous system.
Similarly, you can use do before activities such as :
- You Do – the housework, gardening, your, best, shopping, cooking etc…
You can use MAKE for other activities such as:
- You make – arrangements, an agreement, a decision, a profit, an effort, a cup of tea.