40 Powerful Collocations with MAKE in English

Collocations are word combinations that frequently appear together and sound natural to native speakers. By learning collocations, you can improve your vocabulary and sound more fluent when speaking English. In this article, we’ll cover a range of collocations with “make”, from everyday phrases like “make a cup of tea” to more complex expressions like “make a fortune”.

Table of Contents

Common Collocations with ‘Make’

In this section, we will cover some of the most common collocations with the verb ‘make’. These are phrases that are frequently used together in English, and mastering them can help you sound more fluent and natural. We will divide the collocations into three categories: personal life, professional life, and academic contexts.

Collocations with MAKE

Make in Personal Life

In our personal lives, we use ‘make’ to describe a wide range of activities. Here are some common collocations:

Collocation	Example Sentence
Make a bed	I always make my bed as soon as I get up in the morning.
Make dinner	Can you help me make dinner tonight?
Make a phone call	I need to make a phone call to my mom.
Make plans	Let’s make plans to go to the beach this weekend.
Make a wish	I blew out the candles and made a wish.

Make in Professional Life

In our professional lives, ‘make’ is often used to describe actions that lead to success. Here are some common collocations:

Collocation	Example Sentence
Make a decision	We need to make a decision about which candidate to hire.
Make a profit	Our company has been struggling to make a profit this year.
Make progress	We’ve made a lot of progress on the project so far.
Make a presentation	I have to make a presentation at the conference next week.
Make a sale	I’m hoping to make a sale at the trade show this weekend.

Make in Academic Contexts

In academic contexts, ‘make’ is often used to describe actions related to learning and studying. Here are some common collocations:

Collocation	Example Sentence
Make a decision	We need to make a decision about which candidate to hire.
Make a mistake	It’s okay to make mistakes as long as you learn from them.
Make a point	She always makes a point to thank her employees for their hard work.
Make a revision	I need to make some revisions to my essay before I submit it.
Make a study plan	I’m going to make a study plan for the final exam.

By mastering these common collocations with ‘make’, you’ll be able to express yourself more fluently and naturally in English. Practice using them in context, and soon they’ll become second nature to you.

List of Collocations with MAKE

Collocations with Make

Make an appointment
Make a fortune
Make charge
Make money
Make an effort
Make friends
Make a decision
Make fun of somebody
Make breakfast
Make love
Make lunch
Make a mess
Make dinner
Make a mistake
Make a choice
Make a noise
Make an exception
Make a sound
Make an excuse
Make a phone call
Make plans
Make a mistake
Make progress
Make a profit
Make the bed
Make a suggestion
Make a wish
Make an attempt
Make a point
Make an offer
Make a request
Make a mistake
Make changes
Make furniture
Make payment
Make room
Make clear
Make trouble
Make an excuse
Make a cake

Make Collocations with Example Sentences

Collocation	Example Sentence
Make an appointment	I need to make an appointment with my dentist.
Make a fortune	He made a fortune in the stock market.
Make charge	The police officer decided to make a charge.
Make money	She started her own business to make money.
Make an effort	He made a great effort to finish the project.
Make friends	It’s easy to make friends in a new city.
Make a decision	We need to make a decision about the proposal.
Make fun of somebody	It’s not nice to make fun of people’s mistakes.
Make breakfast	I usually make breakfast for my family.
Make love	They made love under the stars.
Make lunch	Can you make lunch for us today?
Make a mess	He always makes a mess in the kitchen.
Make dinner	She’s going to make dinner for us tonight.
Make a mistake	I’m sorry, I made a mistake on the report.
Make a choice	You need to make a choice between the two.
Make a noise	Please don’t make a noise, I’m studying.
Make an exception	We can make an exception this time.
Make a sound	The baby made a strange sound.
Make an excuse	He always makes an excuse for being late.
Make a phone call	Can you make a phone call to the doctor’s office?
Make plans	Let’s make plans for the weekend.
Make progress	We’re making progress on the project.
Make a profit	The company made a huge profit last year.
Make the bed	Can you please make the bed before leaving?
Make a suggestion	I’d like to make a suggestion for improvement.
Make a wish	I always make a wish when blowing out candles.
Make an attempt	He made an attempt to climb the mountain.
Make a point	She made a good point during the discussion.
Make an offer	I’m going to make an offer to buy the car.
Make a request	Can I make a request for a different room?
Make a mistake	I made a mistake on the math problem.
Make changes	We need to make some changes to the plan.
Make furniture	He enjoys making furniture in his spare time.
Make payment	Please make payment before the due date.
Make room	We need to make room for the new employee.
Make clear	Can you make it clear what you mean?
Make trouble	He’s always making trouble for others.
Make an excuse	She made an excuse for not attending the party.
Make a cake	I’m going to make a cake for my friend’s birthday party.

Practice and Exercises

As we have learned, collocations are essential to master if we want to sound more natural when speaking English. In this section, we will provide you with some interactive activities and quizzes to practice collocations with ‘make.’

Exercise 1: Choose the correct collocation to complete the sentence.

I need to __________ with my doctor for a check-up. (make an appointment / make a bed)
He __________ in the stock market and retired early. (made a profit / made breakfast)
The police officer decided to __________ against the suspect. (make charge / make a point)
She started her own business to __________. (make furniture / make money)
He made a great __________ to finish the project on time. (make trouble / make an effort)

Exercise 2: Complete the sentence with the correct collocation.

Can you please __________ before leaving the hotel room?
I always __________ when blowing out the candles on my birthday cake.
He’s always __________ for being late to meetings.
We need to __________ to the original plan to stay on track.
She’s going to __________ for us tonight, so we don’t have to cook.

Exercise 3: Fill in the blank with the correct collocation.

We’re __________ on the project and hope to finish soon.
Can you please __________ for me and call the restaurant to make a reservation?
He always __________ for people’s mistakes, which isn’t very kind.
I’m going to __________ to buy a new car this weekend.
She __________ to climb the mountain, but didn’t make it to the top.

Answers:

Exercise 1: 1. make an appointment, 2. made a profit, 3. make a charge, 4. make money, 5. make an effort

Exercise 2: 1. make the bed, 2. make a wish, 3. making excuses, 4. make changes, 5. make dinner

Exercise 3: 1. making progress, 2. make a phone call, 3. makes fun of, 4. make an offer, 5. made an attempt

Collocation	Example Sentence
Make a request	Can I make a request for a different room?
Make a mistake	I made a mistake on the math problem.
Make changes	We need to make some changes to the plan.
Make furniture	He enjoys making furniture in his spare time.
Make payment	Please make payment before the due date.
Make room	We need to make room for the new employee.
Make clear	Can you make it clear what you mean?
Make trouble	He’s always making trouble for others.
Make an excuse	She made an excuse for not attending the party.