Go, get, do, make and have all have many different meanings, and they appear in many fixed phrases. Learn the whole phrase, not only the verb. Do often focuses on the action itself; make often emphasises the thing you create or produce.
Use go for movement to another place, usually away from the speaker or listener. Go usually comes without an object; words like home, there and away are adverbs, not objects: This bus goes to the airport. She went home early.
Use go + -ing for activities like swimming, fishing and shopping - the activity in general: We usually go swimming after school. They've gone fishing until late this evening. The -ing form names the activity; it does not itself say how long it lasts.
Use go + to-infinitive to say why we are going - the thing we are going in order to do: He's gone to watch the match. (= he went in order to watch it) Not: He's gone watching the match.
Use go + adjective when things change state: Don't let the soup go cold. Her hair is going grey.
In speaking, we often use go and + base form: Go and ask your teacher. American speakers often drop the and: go get the keys.
Go does not say how we travel. When we mean on foot, walk is more exact: The station is near - let's walk. Let's go is not wrong; it just does not say on foot. When we choose between transport and walking, walk is the exact word: Shall we drive or walk?
Get has many different meanings. It is used a lot in informal speaking and writing, and less in formal writing. In American English, the -ed form is often gotten: They've gotten taller this year.
| Meaning | Example |
|---|---|
| fetch, receive, obtain | I got a text from Ana this morning. |
| become (+ adjective) | It is getting dark. |
| arrive, reach | We got to the station at nine. |
For reaching or arriving at a place, use get, not go: I got there at six.
Get can also mean start doing something: get + -ing: He got talking to the driver. Let's get going - it's late.
Use do with noun phrases for activities, tasks and jobs. Do focuses on the process - the activity itself.
| Phrase | Example |
|---|---|
| do + task or job | do a job, do an exam, do a course |
| do + the + activity | do the shopping, do the ironing, do the cooking |
| do + work | do some work, do exercise |
Use make + object for things we produce or create. Make emphasises the result of the action.
| Phrase | Example |
|---|---|
| make + food or drink | make breakfast, make a cake, make coffee |
| make + speech act | make a speech, make a phone call, make a promise |
| make + other results | make a mistake, make a plan, make a profit |
In British English, use have or take with bath, shower and wash for washing, and with break, holiday and rest for resting. In American English, take is the usual verb here; have with these nouns is characteristically British. For a longer break from work, American English usually says vacation where British English says holiday.
| Use do for | Use make for |
|---|---|
| the activity itself | the thing you produce |
| do an exam | make a cake |
| do the gardening | make a plan |
| do some work | make a profit |
Compare: While I was doing the cleaning, I made a mess in the kitchen. The activity is do; the result is make.
✗I made my homework.
✓I did my homework.
Use do for tasks and jobs. Make emphasises creating something.
✗She did a mistake.
✓She made a mistake.
Make a mistake is the fixed phrase.
✗We went to shopping.
✓We went shopping.
Use go + -ing without to for general activities.
✗He's gone watching the match.
✓He's gone to watch the match.
To say why he went - the purpose of the trip - use go + to-infinitive.
See Have and have got for have got, The present simple for do and does in questions and negatives, The passive in many tenses and with modal verbs for the get-passive, and Phrasal verbs: what they are for phrasal verbs.
Eight questions. Choose one answer for each.