make s.o/sth s.o/sth

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hellocould someone explain me this phrase : make new city your own or make someone your boyfriend or make sth your friend. so i wonder if i can rewrite "make someone be my boyfriend"is it correct?thanks

CalifJim · Accepted Answer

Anonymoushellocould someone explain me this phrase : make new city your own or make someone your boyfriend or make sth your friend. so i wonder if i can rewrite "make someone be my boyfriend"is it correct?thanks

Let's rewrite your question correctly first:

Hello

Could someone explain this phrase to me? Make the new city your own, or Make someone your boyfriend, or Make sb your friend. I wonder if I can rewrite it as "Make someone be my boyfriend".

Thanks
____________

No. You can't rewrite it that way in the general case. Consider the difference in meaning that I, as a native speaker, am picking up in this case, for example:

I want to make Julie my friend is like I want to act nicely toward Julie so that she will accept me as her friend. I want to count Julie among my friends.
I want to make Julie be my friend is like I want to force Julie to be my friend, even if she doesn't want to be my friend, though it's not as strong as "force".

That said, there are times when the inclusion of "be" makes little difference in the meaning.

CJ

make s.o/sth s.o/sth

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