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Teo Posted 20 years ago
Grammar

make it or do it

1i00Trust me, you can 01b00make it. (=succeeding in losing weight)02b02i02br
02br
00The above sentence is a slogan from a weight loss center in Taiwan. some one said this sentence was incorrect. It should be 01i00Trust me, you can 01b00do it!02b02i02br
02br
00What's your comment?0-
  

Top answer

02font 02br 02br 01font 00If you put this query to a teacher, the chances are that s/he will reply something like "01i 00It's a question of collocation02i 00". While this may not seem very helpful, it is nevertheless true. 02font 02br 02br 01font 00Collocation (in linguistics) refers to expressions in which individual words habitually go together.

— Matress

  • 02font 02br 02br 01font 00If you put this query to a teacher, the chances are that s/he will reply something like "01i 00It's a question of collocation02i 00".
  • While this may not seem very helpful, it is nevertheless true.
  • 02font 02br 02br 01font 00Collocation (in linguistics) refers to expressions in which individual words habitually go together.
  • In other words, the verb 01b 00make02b 00 goes with some words and the verb 01b 00do02b 00 with other words.
  • 02font 02br 01ul 02br 01li 02br 02br 01font 01i 00We 01b 00made02b 00 an agreement (01b 00NOT02b 00 did an agreement) 02i 02font 02br 02br 01li 02br 02br 01i 01font 00I 01b 00did02b 00 my homework (01b 00NOT02b 00 made my homework)02font 02i 01font 00 02font 02br 02li 02br 02br 01font 00So what can you do to help you learn which of the two verbs is used with which other words?
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5 Answers
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1font00What is the difference between 01b00make02b00 and 01b00do02b00?02font02br
02br
01font00If you put this query to a teacher, the chances are that s/he will reply something like "01i00It's a question of collocation02i00". While this may not seem
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0Again, this is advertising, so anything goes! Either verb, I suppose, will work:02br
02br
01i00Trust me, you can 01b00make it. 02b02i00= reach your goal of e.g. losing 10 kg02br
01i00Trust me, you can01b00 do it. 02b02i00= succeed in losing e.g. 10 kg.0-
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0 I agree that either one is possible, but I'd like to add that the usual meaning of the idiom "make it" is to arrive somewhere (successfully). The01i00 it02i00 means absolutely nothing! In the ad I suppose it would mean arrive at one's goal of a reduced weight.02br
01i02br
00 Ben took the bus to work today. I wonder if he'll make it on tim
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0Hi,02br
02br
00It is my educated opinion that one could include extra words like "to happen" or "to have it realized" if s/he wonders what the underlined words mean in the sentence/expression "You can 01u00make it02u00."02br
02br
00You can make it to happen. 02br
02br
00You can make it to have it realized.02b
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0 make + object + bare infinitive 0-
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