Phrasal verb make: ten most used constructions with various prepositions. Meanings of the phrasal verb make Make into phrasal verb

Phrasal verb make is as rich in meaning as the other most commonly used ones. There are not many combinations with and, but the number of meanings that can correspond to any one phrase makes this phrasal verb one of the most difficult to learn, since one combination can convey more than 10 completely different meanings. Be careful.

Meanings of the phrasal verb make

Learning the meanings of a phrasal verb make, pay attention to how sometimes very different some of them are from those that are obtained as a result of combining this verb with some adverb or preposition (or both at the same time).

Make after- to set off in pursuit (after) someone; chase.
The police made after the thief. - The police set off in pursuit of the thief.
Make away / make away with– get rid of someone, finish someone off; run away, sneak away.
Synonyms for this phrasal verb meaning make is a verb kill and phrase get rid of. When you use the option " make away with oneself / one's life"implies suicide.
It was decided to make away with him. “It was decided to remove it.”

Why did this teenager decide to make away with himself? – Why did this teenager decide to commit suicide?
Make for- to head towards, rush at someone; promote, contribute to something.
She got up and made for the exit. “She stood up and headed towards the exit.
Make into- remake, transform.
Many flats are being made into offices nowadays. – Today, many apartments are being converted into offices.
Make of– evaluate, comment.
I don’t know what to make of her behavior. – I don’t know how to evaluate her behavior.
Make off- run away, hide.
The burglars made off with the jewelry. – The robbers ran away with the jewelry.
Make out– write out (an invoice), draw up (a document), approve, draw a conclusion; give reasons, understand; understand, distinguish; cope with something; hug, kiss.
How is she making out in her university? How is she coping with her studies at the university?

We could just make out a farm through the trees. “Through the trees we could only see the farm.

As far as I can make out, he is a liar. - As far as I understand, he is a liar.

Could you make out a bill? – Could you write out an invoice?

She makes out that you offended her. - She claims that you offended her.

When should I make out this report? – When should I write this report?
Make over- remodel (remake), transfer (money), transfer your property to someone.
They made the money over to him. - They transferred money to him.
Make up for- compensate, compensate, make up, correct, make amends.
He sent me a present to make up for his being impolite yesterday. “He sent me a gift to make up for the discourtesy he showed yesterday.”

I hope this will make up for your trouble. “I hope this will be a worthy compensation for your troubles.”
Make up to- suck up, make amends.
I'll make it up to you. - I owe you one.

When studying the meanings of the phrasal verb make, pay attention to how sometimes very different some of them are from those that result from combining this verb with some adverb or preposition (or both at the same time).

1. Make after- to set off in pursuit (after) someone; chase
The police made after the thief. - The police set off in pursuit of the thief.

2. Make away / make away with– get rid of someone, finish someone off; run away, sneak away
Synonyms for this meaning of the phrasal verb make are the verb kill and the phrase get rid of. When you use the option "make away with oneself / one's life" it implies committing suicide.
It was decided to make away with him. “It was decided to remove it.”
Why did this teenager decide to make away with himself? – Why did this teenager decide to commit suicide?

3. Make for- to head towards, rush at someone; promote, contribute to something
She got up and made for the exit. “She stood up and headed towards the exit.

4. Make into- remake, transform
Many flats are being made into offices nowadays. – Today, many apartments are being converted into offices.

5. Make of– evaluate, comment
I don’t know what to make of her behavior. – I don’t know how to evaluate her behavior.

6. Make off- run away, hide
The burglars made off with the jewelry. – The robbers ran away with the jewelry.

7. Make out– write out (an invoice), draw up (a document), approve, draw a conclusion; give reasons, understand; understand, distinguish; cope with something; hug, kiss

How is she making out in her university? How is she coping with her studies at the university?
We could just make out a farm through the trees. “Through the trees we could only see the farm.
As far as I can make out, he is a liar. - As far as I understand, he is a liar.
Could you make out a bill? – Could you write out an invoice?
She makes out that you offended her. - She claims that you offended her.
When should I make out this report? – When should I write this report?

8. Make over- remodel (remake), transfer (money), transfer your property to someone
They made the money over to him. - They transferred money to him.

9. Make up– form (team, group); pay extra, reimburse, make up; cook, make (according to a recipe); make (bed), asphalt (road); decide; invent, compose; collect, settle, make peace; paint, make-up; to approach, to approach

These ten chapters make up the whole book. – These ten chapters make up a whole book.
I made up the story of my travelling. – I came up with the story of my journey.
Let's make up. - Let's make peace.
Is it difficult to make her up? – Is it difficult to make her up?
Who will make up losses? – Who will compensate for the losses?
Ask the chemist to make up this prescription. – Ask your pharmacist to prepare this prescription.

10. Make up your mind!- Decide on something!
She was heavily made up. - She was heavily made up.

11. Make up for- compensate, compensate, make up, correct, make amends
He sent me a present to make up for his being impolite yesterday. “He sent me a gift to make up for the discourtesy he showed yesterday.”
I hope this will make up for your trouble. “I hope this will be a worthy compensation for your troubles.”

12. Make up to- suck up, make amends
I'll make it up to you. - I owe you one.

For phrasal verbs with the word make a lot of meanings. In English you can find combinations like make after("chase"), make for("contribute"), make over(“remake”) and many other options make+ preposition Most of the combinations make+ we analyzed the preposition in . And today we decided to focus on the phrasal verb make up and consider 9 of its meanings. And as a bonus, you will learn some interesting phrases with make up that you can use in your speech.

To make up– to make excuses, to come up with an explanation for something, especially if a person wants to avoid punishment or does not want to look stupid. That is, you can translate the verb as “to compose”, “to invent”.
One of my students tends to make up stories about his dog eating his homework. One of my students has a tendency to make up stories about his dog eating his homework.
To make up– compose a story, poem, etc. The synonym in this case is the verb to think up- “to invent”, “to invent”. In this meaning make up there is no negative connotation, as in the previous case. It's just a man who writes fictitious stories.
He made up a little poem about rain and wrote it on a piece of paper. “He composed a little poem about rain and wrote it on a piece of paper.
To make up something- to consist, to connect.
The film is made up of ten separate short stories. – The film consists of 10 separate short stories.
To make up– to prepare or organize something.
The director asked me to make up a list of documents that we needed to sign. – The director asked me to prepare a list of documents that we had to sign.

In the morning everyone makes the bed, and in the evening they prepare it for bed, that is, make up a bed. It is important to remember that in this case you need to use make, but not do.

If you feel ill, stay at home. I will make up the bed for you. – If you feel sick, then stay home. I'll make a bed for you.
To make up something is used when we complete a sum or number. A synonym in this meaning is add up("add").
We rent an apartment together. I pay 250 $ and she makes up the rest. – We rent an apartment together. I pay $250 and she adds the rest.
To make up– make peace with someone after a quarrel. Synonyms: befriend, make friends again.
You have two options: either you forget about everything and make up with her or you will lose a friend. “You have two options: either you forget everything and make peace with her, or you lose your friend.”

This phrase is also used as kiss and make up, which also means “to make peace.”

My friends used to argue a lot but they always kissed and made up afterwards. – Previously, my friends often quarreled, but they always made up later.
To make up something– complete your working hours during non-working hours because you haven’t worked enough before, that is, to compensate for downtime.
I am sorry I am late. I will make up the time this weekend. - I'm sorry I'm late. I'll work this time over the weekend.
To make up- produce something from clothes, sew.
She didn’t like her old jeans that’s why she decided to make up a new bag from them. – She didn’t like her old jeans, so she decided to sew a new bag out of them.
To make up- putting make-up on someone's face.
They made my face up to look like a clown. “They painted me up to look like a clown.”

By the way, we wrote a very detailed article about make-up - makeup in English. The article “” will appeal to all fashionistas.

Watch a short video from a native speaker about this phrasal verb. Steph will tell you what happens after make up need to use some object, since this is ( transitive verb).

Phrases with make up

Phrasal verb make up can also be found in combination with other prepositions and words. We will offer you some interesting phrases that are worth learning.

To make up one's mind- make a decision, literally “make your mind.” If someone says “ My mind is made up” - this means that someone has made a decision and will no longer change it.
Come on, make up your mind! - Let's! Make a decision!
To make up the leeway- catch up. They also say “ make up for lost time" This phrase was formed from the word “ leeway” – ship drift. You can trace the meaning of a phrase by word leeway: Once a ship has drifted, it will take time to catch up the distance the ship has drifted from its intended course.
If we start in October, we will have to make up the leeway a lot, since our competitors are way ahead of us. – If we start in October, we will have to work hard to catch up, since our competitors are far ahead of us.
To make up to someone for doing something / for something- to compensate someone for something, to make up for it, to offer something good so that the person forgets the bad.
I would like to get the full refund to make up for the faulty vase I bought there. – I would like a full refund as compensation for the defective vase that I bought there.

Her boyfriend always buys flowers to make up to her for being late for the dates. Her boyfriend always buys flowers to compensate her for being late for dates.

As you can see with the phrasal verb make up there are many meanings, but there is something in all meanings that unites them: they are all aimed at creation, the creation of something. I hope you manage to remember them all. To do this, I advise you to write a short story about yourself using make up as many times as possible. Let this story be implausible, humorous, the main thing is that it will help you remember the meanings better. And after you compose the story ( make up a story), don't forget to make up your mind ( make up your mind) and send it in the comments to us for verification.

If you find an error, please highlight a piece of text and click Ctrl+Enter.

The verb to make is one of the most widely used verbs in English. It is characterized by one basic meaning - “to do, to accomplish, to produce.”

However, based on this meaning, there are several more meanings that differ in certain semantic nuances, in particular:

Another important meaning of the verb to make is the meaning of “to force”:

Now let's look at other features of this verb.

Grammatical characteristics of the verb to make

The verb to make belongs to the group of irregular verbs, which means its three main forms are not formed according to the rules, but require memorization. These are the forms:

theInfinitive(infinitive, initial form)	the Past Simple Tense(past simple tense)	the Past Participle(past participle)
tomake	made	made
I'd like to make dinner for you. / I'd like to cook dinner for you.	I made a lot of mistakes in the test yesterday. / I made a lot of mistakes in the test yesterday.	Have I made any progress in learning English? / Am I making any progress in learning English?

	*Simple*	*Continuous*	*Perfect*	*Perfect Continuous*
*Present*	This cake *is made* of cookies, fruit and cream. / This cake is made with cookies, fruit and cream.	The cake *is being made* right now. / The cake is being prepared right now.	The cake *has been made* . We can have a cup of tea with a piece of cake. / The cake is ready. We can have a cup of tea and a piece of cake.	—
*Past*	That cake *was made* by my sister. / That cake was made by my sister.	The cake *was being made* by the cook when the guests arrived. / The cake was being prepared by the cook when the guests arrived.	The cake *had been made* when we came. So we had a cup of tea with it. / The cake was ready when we arrived. So we had a cup of tea with him.	—
*Future*	The cake *will be made* tomorrow in the afternoon. / The cake will be prepared tomorrow afternoon.	—	The cake *will have been made* by the time you come to take it to the birthday party. / The cake will be ready by the time you come to pick it up for the birthday party.	—

The absence of some forms in the table above does not indicate their absence in the verb to make, but their complete absence in the paradigm of passive voice forms.

Differences between the verb to make and the verb to do

In general, the main difference between these two verbs from each other is that in addition to the basic meaning of “do” inherent in each of them, they have independent shades of this meaning:

However, the line between these values is sometimes very thin or completely blurred. Therefore, it is better to remember the most common set expressions with the verbs to make and to avoid mistakes in their use. Below are fixed expressions with the verb to do:

to do homework	to do homework	I forgot to do my homework yesterday.	I forgot about my homework yesterday.
to do housework	do housework	My mother and sister do all the housework in our house.	My mother and sister do all the housework for us.
to do a subject	study a subject	What subjects do you do at school?	What subjects do you study at school?
to do a course	take a training course	I did a two-month course in business English.	I took a two-month business English course.
to do the shopping	to shop, to go shopping	I always do the shopping at the weekends.	I always go shopping on the weekend.
to do research	carry out research	These scientists are doing medical research in spinal injuries.	These scientists conduct medical research on spinal injuries.
to do smb. a favor	do someone a favor	Could you do me a favor?	Could you do me a favor?
to do well	study well	I did well at German, but my brother did badly.	I studied well in German, but my brother did poorly.
to do badly	bad student	I did well at German, but my brother did badly.	I studied well in German, but my brother did poorly.
to do something / nothing / anything	do something / nothing / whatever	Those people do nothing all day. Can you do anything about it?	Those people do nothing all day. Can you do anything about this?

Set expressions with the verb to make

to make a mistake	to make a mistake	He made a few mistakes in the test.	He made several mistakes in the test.
to make a meal	cook food	I don’t usually make a meal in the evening.	I usually don't cook food in the evening.
to make money	make money, make a fortune	He made a lot of money when he was in China.	He made a lot of money when he was in China.
to make friends	to make friends	Tom made a lot of friends in Canada last year.	Tom made a lot of friends in Canada last year.
to make a decision	decide	Think about it before you make a decision.	Think about this before you make a decision.
to make a noise	make noise	I can’t work because those people are making a lot of noise.	I can't work because these people are making a lot of noise.
to make progress	achieve improvement, progress	Her English is much better now. She has made remarkable progress.	Her English is much better now. She has achieved significant success.
to make a difference	make a difference, make a difference	Now I have a car. It makes a big difference.	Now I have a car. This makes a big difference.
to make up one's mind	make a decision, decide	I can’t make up my mind to tell you about it.	I just can't bring myself to tell you about this.

Features of the verb to make in the meaning of “to force”

The verb to make can be used before the infinitive of another verb in the sense of “to cause to encourage someone to do something.” in this case, the infinitive of the second verb is used without the particle to. For example:

Phrasal verbs with the stem to make

to make after	pursue, pursue...	The police were making after the shoplifter.	The police were chasing a shoplifter.
to make away	run away, sneak away	The shoplifter was able to make away.	The shoplifter was able to escape.
to make awaywith	end with..., get rid of...	All the criminals try to make away with witnesses.	All criminals try to get rid of witnesses.
to make for	to be directed, to rush towards something	A crowd of people made for the exit.	A crowd of people rushed to the exit.
to make out	distinguish, understand, understand, deal with	You can make out images of angels among the clouds in this picture.	In this picture, images of angels can be distinguished among the clouds.
to make of	regard	I don’t know what to make of his words.	I don't know how to evaluate his words.
to make over	transfer (money), transfer	Her parents makeover big sums of money to her once a month.	Her parents transfer large sums of money to her once a month.
to make off	run away, hide	The thieves have made off with all the valuable things.	The thieves ran away with all the valuables.
to make up	compose, invent; apply makeup	Please, make up a fairy-tale on your own! A lot of women make up every day.	Please make up your own story! Many women wear makeup every day.

Make friends with the verb to make and it will become your faithful assistant!

Knowing contextual phrases is extremely useful for understanding spoken language. IN English language There are many expressions that need to be learned because they do not follow standard rules. To make it much easier for you to learn the language, our site has selected the most common examples and expressions in which the phrasal verb make is used.

The verb to make in its original form means “to create something.”

You can make great stories only if you have enough experience, wisdom and a bit of talent. - You can create brilliant stories only if you have enough experience, wisdom and a little talent.

Together with prepositions or adverbs, the modal verb acquires a completely different meaning and meaning. There are over 20 different phrasal verbs with make in the English language, which is why they are the most difficult to learn. On the other hand, they are the most common. Knowing such expressions, you will be able to express yourself clearly - no worse than native speakers, understand speech in films and TV series, and read the English-language press without problems.

MAKEUP

In addition to the well-known meaning of “make up,” the expression can also mean “to compose” or “to invent.” For example:

My teacher always wants us to make up stories, sentences or even small poems with new words. – My teacher always wants us to came up with stories, sentences or even small poems with new words.

No less popular is the meaning of the phrasal verb make up “to put up with.”

Anna cheated on me and destroyed everything we had been dreaming about, that’s why I will never make up with her. – Anna cheated on me and thereby destroyed everything we dreamed of, so I’ll never be with her I'll make peace.

MAKE FOR

Used in American English to mean “to go somewhere”, “to go somewhere”. For example:

My husband and I decided to make for a quiet and cozy place for our honeymoon. - My husband and I decided leave to a quiet and cozy place for our honeymoon.

The expression can also be translated as “to promote.”

Your intense music and constant phone calls don’t make for my effective preparation for the final exam. – Your loud music and constant telephone conversations are not contribute effective preparation for the final exam.