make
part of speech
verb (make, makes, made, making); noun (a make — a brand)
meaning for a pupil
1) To make is to build, cook or create something: make a cake. tree →
2) To make is to cause something to happen or be: The joke made me laugh. tree →
3) To make someone do something is to force them. tree →
4) In maths, to make is to come to a total: 3 and 4 make 7. tree →
5) To make a bed, a mistake, a friend, a choice is to do it. tree →
6) To make can mean to earn or to reach: make money, make it on time. tree →
7) (casual) «Make do» means manage with what you have; «make up» means invent or become friends again; «made up» (UK north, Ireland) means very pleased; «make out» means understand, or (teen slang) kiss. tree →
8) (rough) «Make me!» is a cheeky refusal; «you make me sick» is an angry put-down. tree →
9) (formal) The exam voice says «construct», «produce», «manufacture», «compose», «constitute», «render», «yield» (give as a result). tree →
sense in the lessons
causing a change («Giving can make you have more or less»); making things in groups («makes 4 rows of 5 beads» = multiply); «make 10» = find numbers that add to 10; in everyday life «make friends», «make a mistake», «make up» (invent, or become friends again), «make sure», «make do»; in casual talk «made up», «make it» (arrive in time); in rough talk «make me!»; in the exam voice «constitute», «yield», «produce»
examples
- Giving can make you have more or less … tree →
- Mum makes 3 cakes. tree →
- Kim makes 4 rows of 5 beads. tree →
- 6 and 4 make 10. tree →
- Let's make a paper plane. tree →
- Please make your bed. tree →
- The loud bang made the baby cry. tree →
- It's fine to make mistakes when you learn. tree →
- I made a new friend today. tree →
- no eggs left so we'll make do with 2 tree →
- «Sit down.» «Make me!» tree →
- Kim constructs 4 rows, each comprising 5 beads; determine the aggregate number of beads thus produced. tree →
- Oh, that made him so angry! tree →
note
Making new things adds to the count; «makes N rows of M» is equal groups: multiply. «A and B make C» means A + B = C; «yield» and «constitute» in an exam say the same. Past «made». «make a mistake», not «do a mistake». «Make me!» is a rude refusal, not a request. «make do with 2» means manage with only 2: the number is 2.
In the corpora
- Pocket money is a small regular amount given to children to practise choosing, saving and making mistakes with money.
- Lenders make borrowing look easy: "Cash in minutes!", "Buy now, pay later!".
- A credit score is a rating of how reliably someone pays; missing payments lowers it and makes borrowing harder and dearer.
- Debt advice charities give free, private help to make a plan for paying debts back at a pace the family can manage.
- Own-brand food is often made in a similar way to famous brands but costs less because there is no big advertising.
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «make» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.