A collocation is a pair or group of words that habitually go together in English — not because grammar requires it, but because native speakers have settled on that combination over time. Students who know that 'make' goes with 'a decision' but 'do' goes with 'homework' produce natural-sounding English; students who guess from logic produce errors like 'do a decision' or 'make homework' that immediately signal a non-native speaker. The four verbs make, do, take, and have generate hundreds of high-frequency collocations that students encounter and need daily. This lesson gives teachers a practical framework for teaching the most important ones and a strategy for helping students build collocation knowledge over time.
Before you start — think honestly about your own teaching and experience.
Look at the examples. Answer each question before reading the explanation — this is how your students will learn too.
Both 'make' and 'do' describe producing or performing something. Is there a logical rule that distinguishes them? Or does the choice simply have to be learned for each noun?
There is a rough rule — 'make' tends to go with nouns that result in something new being produced (a decision, a mistake, a noise, a plan, progress), while 'do' tends to go with activities or tasks that are performed (homework, research, damage, work, a course). But the rule is not reliable enough to predict every case: 'do good' but 'make a difference'; 'do damage' but 'make an impact'. The honest answer is that collocations cannot be fully predicted from logic — they are habitual pairings that must be learned as chunks. This is not a failure of English — it is how all languages work. The teaching implication is clear: present collocations as fixed phrases to be learned together, not as words to be combined on the basis of meaning alone.
Notice that 'take an exam' is standard in British English but 'do an exam' is also used. 'Have an impact' means the same as 'make an impact' — both exist. Collocations are not always unique — sometimes two verbs can collocate with the same noun. How does a student decide which to use when both are possible?
When two collocations are both standard (take/do an exam; make/have an impact), the safest strategy is to learn the most frequent one first and note that the other exists. British English favours 'take an exam'; American English often uses 'take a test'. 'Make an impact' is more formal than 'have an impact'. When two options exist, frequency and register help guide the choice — but either is acceptable. The key teaching point: collocations are not absolute rules; they are tendencies. What is never acceptable is inventing a combination that is not used ('do an impact', 'make an exam'). Knowing which combinations simply don't occur is as important as knowing which ones do.
These examples show that some nouns collocate with several different verbs depending on meaning or register. What is the difference between 'gave a presentation', 'did a presentation', and 'made a presentation'? Are all three acceptable?
'Give a presentation' emphasises the delivery — it was presented to an audience. 'Do a presentation' is more informal — it focuses on completing the task. 'Make a presentation' is less common in British English but used in American English. All three are used but with slightly different emphasis. This shows that collocations are not binary (right/wrong) — they exist on a spectrum of naturalness and frequency. For classroom purposes, teaching the most frequent and unambiguous collocations first (make a decision, do homework, take notes, have a meeting) gives students the widest return, while noting that some nouns allow multiple verbs.
| make | do | take | have |
|---|---|---|---|
| make a decision | do homework | take a break | have a meeting |
| make a mistake | do research | take notes | have a conversation |
| make progress | do damage | take part | have difficulty |
| make an effort | do well | take responsibility | have an impact |
| make a plan | do a course | take an exam | have fun |
| make a noise | do good | take a photo | have a look |
| make friends | do the cleaning | take care | have trouble |
NOTE 1 — The rough make/do distinction: 'make' tends to collocate with nouns that name a product or result (a decision is made; progress is made; a mistake is produced). 'Do' tends to collocate with activities or tasks (homework is done; research is conducted; damage is caused). The distinction is a tendency, not a rule — many collocations must simply be memorised.
NOTE 2 — When two verbs are both possible: 'take/do an exam', 'make/have an impact', 'give/do/make a presentation'. In these cases, learn the most frequent form first. In British English: 'take an exam' is more common than 'do an exam'. 'Make an impact' is more formal than 'have an impact'.
NOTE 3 — What never works: knowing which combinations are impossible is as useful as knowing which ones are standard. 'Do a decision' ✗, 'make homework' ✗, 'take a meeting' ✗ (you 'attend' or 'hold' a meeting — 'take' does not work here), 'have a mistake' ✗.
NOTE 4 — Collocations must be learned as chunks: the practical implication is that vocabulary teaching should present make + a decision as a single unit, not 'make' (verb) and 'decision' (noun) separately. Students who learn the chunk can retrieve it as a whole; students who learn the parts separately must reconstruct the combination each time — and often get it wrong.
Collocation knowledge is one of the clearest markers of advanced proficiency in English. Learners at B1 level often have accurate grammar and reasonable vocabulary but produce collocations that sound wrong: 'do a mistake', 'make a research', 'take a decision' (possible in some formal contexts but less common than 'make'). Native speakers do not notice correct collocations — they only notice wrong ones. This makes collocation errors particularly damaging to the impression of fluency. Teaching collocations explicitly and systematically, rather than waiting for students to pick them up through exposure, significantly accelerates this aspect of language development.
Build a classroom collocations wall — a display divided into four sections (make / do / take / have) that grows throughout the term as students encounter new collocations in reading or in class. Students add new items and the display becomes a reference resource. This works equally well as a vocabulary notebook section that each student maintains individually.
Choose the correct verb (make, do, take, or have) to complete each collocation. Only one option is natural in standard British English.
Each sentence contains a collocation error with make, do, take, or have. Find the error, write the correct sentence, and explain the correct collocation.
Use this sequence directly in class — guided discovery, no textbook needed. Tap each step to mark it done.
STEP 1 — Why can't you predict it? (5 min): Write 'make/do a mistake' on the board. Ask: which is correct? Why? Accept any answers. Then reveal: 'make a mistake' is correct, and no simple logic fully explains it — it is a habitual pairing. Establish the key message: collocations must be learned as chunks, not guessed word by word.
STEP 2 — Build the grid together (7 min): Draw the four columns (make/do/take/have) on the board. Call out nouns one at a time (decision, homework, notes, damage, responsibility, fun, research, progress). Students call out which verb they think goes with each. Add correct collocations to the grid. Discuss wrong guesses — why does 'do a decision' feel logical but sound wrong?
STEP 3 — Chunk learning (6 min): Introduce the 'chunk method' — collocations are learned as a single unit, not as two words. Model: write 'make a decision' as one item in a vocabulary notebook, give an example sentence, give a wrong version to avoid. Ask students to do the same for three collocations of their choice from the grid.
STEP 4 — Error hunt (7 min): Write eight sentences — four with collocation errors and four correct. Students identify errors and give the correct form. Discuss: did you know immediately that it was wrong, or did you have to check? What does that tell you about whether the chunk has been learned?
STEP 5 — Use them today (5 min): Ask each student to say two true sentences about their school using two different collocations from the lesson. No collocation may be repeated across the class. This forces production and makes the collocations memorable in a real context.
Use directly in class — copy, adapt, or read aloud. No printing needed.
For each strategy, choose the option that best describes where you are now.
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