141. Ways of Using MAKE

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Some uses of MAKE can be problematic even for advanced learners of English

THE PROBLEM PRESENTED BY make

Small verbs like MAKE are difficult to master in any new language because they tend to have many different uses and meanings, many of them idiomatic (hard to guess). Dictionaries are useful for discovering the possibilities, but they tend to present them as lists without the commentary that can add interest and assist memorisation.

It is this kind of commentary that I am attempting to provide here with MAKE, a word that is especially variable in both its grammar and its meaning. The approach is similar to that taken elsewhere in this blog with HAVE,  MAKE,  GO,  GIVE,  TAKE and COME. For discussions of various other small verbs, see 119. BE before a “to” Verb and 129. Differences between Necessity Verbs.

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FUNDAMENTAL MEANINGS (make + NOUN)

MAKE normally needs a following noun or equivalent as its “object”. The most basic kind is unaccompanied and represents a concrete idea, e.g. cars, lunch, a fire, a heap or a photocopy. The meaning of MAKE is then something like “produce by processing ingredients”. Usually the processing will involve combining, but it could also be the opposite, as in make hydrogen (from water).

The main problem with this definition seems to be the existence of some objects that look as if they ought to combine with MAKE but do not. For example, buildings (and their components, e.g. walls) are not usually made but built or constructed. Pictures and photographs respectively need DRAW (or PAINT) and TAKE.

Moreover, there are some objects usable with MAKE that do not always have it. Sometimes the choice is free: meals may be prepared as well as made, beer can be brewed and cars can be manufactured. Sometimes, though, the meaning differs: we mentally write a book but physically make one; teachers make exams, but students do or take them. Also notable is make a bed, where MAKE could mean either “construct” or “tidy”.

Similar to the basic use is MAKE with nouns of a more abstract kind. Many are derived from verbs of saying or thinking. MAKE seems preferred to DO with them despite the fact that they often seem to mean an action rather than a product (see 14. Action Outcomes). In other words, custom determines the choice more than logic (see 273. Verb-Object Collocations).

Examples are an (academic) argument*, an assertion, a claim, a comment, a comparison, a complaint, a connection, a contrast, an enquiry, an excuse, a fuss, a list*, a note, an observation, an offer, a plan, a promise*, a proposal, a remark, a request, a speech*, a statement, a suggestion, a threat and an utterance.

The nouns marked * here sometimes have GIVE instead of MAKE, suggesting supply of something made earlier (see 244. Special Uses of GIVE, #3). Threat also has an alternative: POSE when it means simply being a threat rather than communicating one. Note also that a plan can have FORM as well as MAKE, and a list DRAW UP.

Some nouns of saying/thinking cannot have MAKE: GIVE is often the right choice, especially with nouns expressing essay purposes (see 94. Essay Instruction Words), such as an account, a definition, a description, an explanation, an outline, an overview). Also found are EXPRESS (a belief, an idea, an opinion, a view), HAVE (a quarrel/argument, a discussion) and TAKE (heed, note). For more examples, see 173. “Do Research” or “Make Research”?.

With other action nouns, MAKE is again common. Examples (with alternative verbs in brackets) are an analysis (DO, GIVE), an assessment (DO, GIVE), an attempt, a connection, a decision, a discovery, an examination (CARRY OUT, DO), a judgement, haste, an impact (HAVE), an impression, a leap, a mistake, a move, progress, provision, a recovery, a start and a survey (DO). Exceptions include research and investigation (CARRY OUT or CONDUCT or, with research, DO) and various nouns requiring HAVE (an encounter, an experience, a try – see 116. Rarer Uses of HAVE).

MAKE also accompanies many abstract nouns that do not express actions. These include non-human sounds (most human ones have GIVE) – a bang, music, a noise, a sound, a splash – and financial nouns like a fortune, a loss, money and a profit. There is an informal use before sums of money (e.g. made $50) which means “earn”. Other common objects are amends, a difference, an effort, enemies, a face (= an expression), a fuss, friends, history, love, peace, a point, sense, time and trouble (CAUSE). Note that MAKE or CAUSE trouble suggests intention, while GIVE does not.

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OTHER MEANINGS OF make + NOUN

1. MAKE = “manage to reach”

This meaning often accompanies the + form of transport, such as the train or the flight. A famous example is in a Beatles song: … made the bus in seconds flat (= “very rapidly reached the bus before it departed”). Sports targets like the team and the final are another common type of object. One also hears make the (news)papers.

A related use is make it to (= complete the journey to), e.g. made it to Paris/the summit.

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2. MAKE Used like BE

In the examples above, MAKE is always used with an object. It can also be used with a noun that is not an object (i.e. a “complement”), changing the meaning noticeably. Consider this:

(a) Dogs make good servants.

Good servants here is the same as dogs, not something separately created by them. Make thus resembles are, its exact meaning being something like “are capable of becoming”.

MAKE can also resemble “equals”. Before it must be one or more part names, after it their product, like this:

(b) Eleven players make a football team.

This use is most fundamental in arithmetic (Two plus three make five). For a detailed discussion of complements, see 220. Features of Complements.

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OTHER STRUCTURES WITH make

There are various other possibilities after MAKE besides a simple following noun.

3. MAKE + Noun + Verb

EXAMPLE:

(c) Warmth and rain make grass grow rapidly.

Make here means “cause” (see 32. Expressing Consequences). The noun after is grass, and the verb is grow. The verb is an infinitive without to (see 148. Infinitive Verbs without “to”). Dropping to is compulsory unless MAKE is passive (e.g. is made to do…). Failing to drop it is a common error (see 10. Words with Unexpected Grammar 1, #a).

If the verb after MAKE + Noun is BE, it must usually be omitted altogether (see 192. When BE can be Omitted, under “object complements”). The omission will leave either MAKE + NOUN + ADJECTIVE (e.g. makes grass green) or MAKE + NOUN + NOUN (e.g. makes grass an asset – see 3 below). The only time when BE can be kept (still without to) is when it expresses an action (see 271. Tricky Grammar Contrasts 3, #3).

With human objects, MAKE + noun + verb is likely to mean “force” rather than “cause” (see 65. Verbs that Mean “Must” or “Can”).

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4. MAKE + Noun + Noun (1)

In this use, the object of MAKE is the second of the two following nouns, while the first expresses a beneficiary of the making:

(d) Currency trading can make banks a fortune.

If the two underlined nouns here are reversed, banks is shown not to be the true object by the fact that for has to be added before it. In traditional grammar, it would be called an “indirect” object. MAKE here resembles “give”. For more on indirect objects and the verbs accompanying them, see 126. Verbs with an Indirect Object.

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5. MAKE + Noun + Noun (2)

EXAMPLE:

(e) Currency trading can make banks economic giants.

The difference between this and (d) is that it says what banks can become, not what they can have. In other words, MAKE is more like “cause to be” than “give”. In grammatical terms, banks is the object of make while economic giants is an “object complement” (see 92. Verbs with an Object + “as”).

In (e), the object complement of MAKE is basically a noun (giants), but it could, like all complements, also be an adjective, e.g. rich. In either case, the combination is the same as that described at the end of #3 above: we can understand a compulsorily dropped to be between the object (banks above) and object complement.

The ability of MAKE + Noun + Noun to be understood in two different ways sometimes creates a double meaning, e.g. make people tools (see 182. Structures with a Double Meaning 2, #4).

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6. MAKE + Noun + Preposition + Noun

When a preposition follows MAKE + object, sometimes it is part of the verb, creating a “prepositional verb” (see 123. Prepositional Verbs Containing a Noun). One common example is MAKE … INTO, meaning “convert”:

(f) Yeast will make fruit juice into wine.

This use is very similar to that in (e) above, without a preposition before the second noun. The difference is perhaps that into shows a more complete change: wine is not still fruit juice. In (e), banks that become economic giants are still banks (see 254. Tricky Word Contrasts 10, #2).

Another quite common preposition after objects of MAKE is of. In one use, MAKE means “create”, so that it can paraphrase sentences like (e), reversing the positions of the two nouns (… make economic giants of banks). Mostly, though, of follows an unchanging object after MAKE, e.g. make much/nothing of, make fun of and make an example of. For more about of in such verbs, see 160. Uses of “of”.

One other possible preposition is for, as in make amends for and make way for.

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7. MAKE in Multi-Word Verbs

Multi-word verbs are mostly comprise a common verb and either a preposition (forming “prepositional” verbs like DEPEND ON and COPE WITH), or a preposition-like adverb (forming “phrasal” verbs like TURN ON and BREAK OUT – see 139. Phrasal Verbs). Many have a more formal one-word equivalent (see 108. Formal and Informal Words). MAKE forms a small number of two-word verbs.

Three phrasal verbs are MAKE OUT (= “be successful” or “decipher” [+ object] or “falsely claim” [+ that…]); MAKE OFF (= “go away”); and MAKE UP (= “end a quarrel” or “compose a falsehood” [+ object] or “facially decorate” [+ object]).

Common prepositional verbs are MAKE FOR (= move towards or cause), MAKE UP (= be the parts of) and MAKE OF (= understand about). After passive BE MADE there are …OF + material (= comprise), …WITH + ingredients (= contain) and UP OF + components (=comprise) – see 196. Saying what is inside Things. Other combinations with a combined adverb + preposition are MAKE OFF WITH (“steal and carry away”) and MAKE UP WITH (= end a quarrel with).

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8. MAKE + Infinitive

Somebody who makes to speak shows signs of starting to speak but then stops. Hence, MAKE to… approximately means “unsuccessfully start”.

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9. Other Idiomatic Phrases

make a meal of… = spend too much time on…
make a fuss = emphatically object or disagree
make do (with…) = manage (with something imperfect)
make hay (while the sun shines) = make maximum use of a favourable moment
make a splash = do something that brings fame
make (one’s) mark = do something notable