Do 和 make 當及物動詞時都有「做；製作」的意思，當它們後接名詞 (片語) 當受詞時，do 著重於動作或做某事的過程，而 make 則強調動作的產物或結果。例如：
- Betty did a very good math paper, but she still made two mistakes. (貝蒂的數學考卷答得很好，但還是有兩個地方錯誤)
- When I was doing the cooking course, I made two chocolate cakes. (我在修烹飪課程時做了兩個巧克力蛋糕)
下列為與 do 和 make 連用或固定搭配的一些常用名詞 (片語)：
DO: activity, business, cleaning, cooking, course, damage, drawing, duty, exam(ination), exercise, favor, gardening, harm, homework, ironing, job, laundry, one’s best, painting, shopping, task, test, washing (up), work 等。
- My wife does her shopping on Wednesdays and Saturdays. (我太太每星期三和星期六去買東西/購物)
- Mary hates to do the ironing. (瑪麗討厭燙衣服)
- The divorce did a great deal of damage to his political career. (離婚對他的政治生涯造成極大的傷害)
- I really should do/take more exercise. (我真的應該多運動)
MAKE: apology, assumption, bed, breakfast, cake, change, coffee, comment, complaint, dinner, effort, error, excuse, friends, guess, law, list, loss, love, lunch, mess, mistake, money, noise, offer, phone call, plan, profit, progress, promise, remark, sound, soup, speech, statement, tea 等。
- John made an apology for his rudeness to me last night. (約翰為他昨晚對我粗魯無禮道歉)
- He’s made an offer on a mansion in downtown Taipei. (他已出價購買台北市中心一棟豪宅)
- Amy’s always making excuses for being late for school. (艾美總是為上學遲到找各種藉口)
- He made a profit of five million dollars on his house. (他賣掉房子獲利五百萬元)