Extra Activities Lesson 39
Extra Activities Lesson 39
Extra Activities Lesson 39
Fill in the gaps with the correct verb to complete the collocations.
The meeting took almost five hours so it was impossible to________ attention all the time.
The problem is difficult to ___________ under control.
It took us all day to clean up the office after the burglary - the thieves __________a terrible mess.
I don't think we should ____________a decision yet; we should wait.
Only 31% of the students who ____________the final exam passed it.
I think we should look for a new supplier - the one we have at the moment _________ us too many problems.
Could you _____________me a favor and post these letters on your way home?
I've told him ten times that he's got the wrong telephone number. I'll __________crazy if they call again.
The company offers its employees free language training but not many people ___________advantage of it.
Our personnel assistant is leaving next month - she's ____________a baby.
3. Although the doctors tried hard, they couldn’t ………………………….. his life.
4. Abbreviations ………………………… space and hence they are very common in newspaper headlines.
8. I asked her what her problem was but she ……………………………….. quiet.
These two words can be confusing, but I’ll teach you the difference – and teach you 60 common collocations with
example sentences to help you!
▪ Use MAKE for creating or producing something, and for actions you choose to do.
▪ DO generally refers to the action itself, and MAKE usually refers to the result. For example, if you “make
breakfast,” the result is an omelet! If you “make a suggestion,” you have created a recommendation.
HOUSEWORK
▪ do the housework
After I got home from the office, I was too tired to do the housework.
▪ do the laundry
I really need to do the laundry – I don’t have any clean clothes left!
▪ do the dishes
I’ll make dinner if you do the dishes afterwards.
(you can also say “wash the dishes”)
▪ do the shopping
I went to the bank, did some shopping, and mailed a package at the post office.
EXCEPTION: make the bed = putting blankets, sheets, and pillows in the correct place so that the bed looks nice and
not messy.
WORK / STUDY
▪ do work
I can’t go out this weekend – I have to do some work on an extra project.
▪ do homework
You can’t watch any TV until you’ve done your homework.
▪ do a good/great/terrible job
She did a good job organizing the party.
(in this expression, “job” doesn’t necessarily refer to work. It simply means the person did something well)
▪ do a report
I’m doing a report on the history of American foreign policy.
(you can also say “writing a report”)
▪ do a course
We’re doing a course at the local university.
(you can also say “taking a course”)
▪ do exercise
I do at least half an hour of exercise every day.
▪ do well
I think I did pretty well in the interview.
▪ do badly
Everyone did badly on the test – the highest grade was 68.
▪ do good
The non-profit organization has done a lot of good in the community.
FOOD
▪ make breakfast/lunch/dinner
I’m making dinner – it’ll be ready in about ten minutes.
▪ make a sandwich
Could you make me a turkey sandwich?
▪ make a salad
I made a salad for the family picnic.
▪ make a reservation
I’ve made a reservation for 7:30 at our favorite restaurant.
MONEY
▪ make money
I enjoy my job, but I don’t make very much money.
▪ make a profit
The new company made a profit within its first year.
▪ make a fortune
He made a fortune after his book hit #1 on the bestseller list.
▪ make $_______
I made $250 selling my old CDs on the internet.
RELATIONSHIPS
▪ make friends
It’s hard to make friends when you move to a big city.
COMMUNICATION
▪ make a joke
He made a joke, but it wasn’t very funny and no one laughed.
▪ make a point
Dana made some good points during the meeting; I think we should consider her ideas.
▪ make a bet
I made a bet with Peter to see who could do more push-ups.
▪ make a complaint
We made a complaint with our internet provider about their terrible service, but we still haven’t heard back
from them.
▪ make a confession
I need to make a confession: I was the one who ate the last piece of cake.
▪ make a speech
The company president made a speech about ethics in the workplace.
▪ make a suggestion
Can I make a suggestion? I think you should cut your hair shorter – it’d look great on you!
▪ make a prediction
It’s difficult to make any predictions about the future of the economy.
▪ make an excuse
When I asked him if he’d finished the work, he started making excuses about how he was too busy.
▪ make a promise
I made a promise to help her whenever she needs it.
(you can also say, “I promised to help her whenever she needs it.”)
▪ make a comment
The teacher made a few critical comments on my essay.
EXCEPTION: Don’t say “make a question.” The correct phrase is “ask a question.”
▪ make plans
We’re making plans to travel to Australia next year.
▪ make a decision/choice
I’ve made my decision – I’m going to go to New York University, not Boston University.
▪ make a mistake
You made a few mistakes in your calculations – the correct total is $5430, not $4530.
▪ make progress
My students are making good progress. Their spoken English is improving a lot.
▪ make a discovery
Scientists have made an important discovery in the area of genetics.
▪ make a list
I’m making a list of everything we need for the wedding: invitations, decorations, a cake, a band, the dress…
▪ make a difference
Getting eight hours of sleep makes a big difference in my day. I have more energy!
▪ make an exception
Normally the teacher doesn’t accept late homework, but she made an exception for me because my
backpack was stolen with my homework inside it.