Often confused verbs - rules

Make and Do
Make has a number of uses:
- Aunt Alice is going to make all the cakes for the party. (= create)
- Roquefort cheese is made in France. (= is produced)
- Our company makes a lot of its products in Sri Lanka. (= manufactures)
- The spare bedroom will make a wonderful gym for my husband. (= become)
- This tea makes me feel very relaxed. (= causes me to be)
- The customs officer made me empty my bag. (= force or command)
- He makes a lot of money on in his job. (= earn)
- I can't make it on Friday I’m afraid. (keep an appointment)
Do also has a number of uses:
We often use do to describe an activity or to mean 'carry out/complete a task'.
- What are we going to do for New Year’s Eve? (= take part in an activity)
- You can go out after you've done your chores. (= you've completed)
- There isn't much left in the fridge as I haven't done the shopping yet.
- We do the accounts at the end of every month.
- Do your best. (= try)

Bring, Take, Fetch

Bring and take have opposite meanings.
Bring - to take someone or something with you to the place you are now, to your home, or to the place/ event you have been talking about.
- I've brought the papers you said you wanted.
- When are you going to bring your new friend to meet us? (to our house)
Take - to move someone or something away from the place you are now, away from your home or away from the place/event you have been
talking about.
- I can't find the car keys - Johnny must have taken them when he left this morning.
- When are you taking me to meet your parents? (away from here to their home)
The choice of verb depends on the situation/place where the speaker is.
- Are you taking your bikini? (asked at home, before you leave to go on holiday)
- Have you brought your bikini? (asked on your holiday)

Fetch - to collect someone or something from another place and bring it to the place you are now, to your home or to the place you are talking
about. (Note: We don't use bring with this meaning of 'collecting'.)
- Could you fetch the kids from school tomorrow? (= go to the school and bring them home)
Speak and Talk
Speak and talk both have very similar meanings and are often equally appropriate.
- I'm going to talk/speak to my boss about a pay rise.
We usually use speak, not talk, for formal speeches.
- Before the election the Queen spoke to the nation on television.
We use speak, not talk, to refer to languages.
- Emma speaks perfect French.
We use talk for long conversations.
- We were talking all night!
There are a number of expressions with speak and talk.
- Could you speak up, please? (= talk louder)
- I'd like to talk about our business model. (= explain/discuss)
- You're talking nonsense. (I strongly disagree with what you are saying.)

Lay and Lie, Raise and Rise

Infinitive Past Tense Past Participle Present Participle

Lay (action) Laid Laid Laying

Lie (state) Lay Lain Lying

Lie (not tell the truth) Lied Lied Lying

Raise Raised Raised Raising

Rise Rose Risen Rising

Arise arose arisen Arising

Lay expresses an action.

Lie describes a state or position.
- First, lay all the bits and pieces on a clean work-surface. (action = place them flat on something)
- I think I'll just lie in bed on Sunday morning. (= state/position)
- We've been laying artificial grass in front of the hotel and it looks great.
- We found these old banknotes lying in the cupboard.
- That man lies all the time. (= says things which are not true)
Raise refers to the action of someone or something lifting, increasing or moving something else (i.e. an object) in an upward direction.
Rise only refers to the movement itself.
- The government is thinking of raising local tax rates to match those in other European Union states. (= to put up the tax rate)
- Rates are predicted to rise by ten percent. (= to go up)

Rob and Steal

Rob refers to the person or place that suffers the crime.
Steal refers to what is taken.
- Thieves stole my handbag.
- Thieves robbed my husband.
- A gang robbed our factory.
- They stole my car.

Other commonly confused verbs:

borrow To take/receive a loan Can I borrow some money from you?

lend To give a loan I will lend you 100 pounds.

To show ability I can speak three languages.

can
To request (informal) Can I help you?

To express a possibility I may arrive a little later than I thought.

may
To request (polite) May I help you?

To come into contact with someone/To be introduced to someone I met my boyfriend’s parents for the first time yesterday!
meet
To arrange to see someone I will meet you outside the restaurant at 10 p.m.

To be familiar with someone I’ve known Ben for ten years.

know
To understand a fact or truth He knows a lot about the market in Poland.

Don’t waste your time indoors! Go outside!

waste To fail to use something valuable in an effective way
Don’t waste electricity! Turn the lights out!

To pay out I spent all my savings on that new car.

spend
To pass time He spends all of his spare time at the animal shelter.

emigrate To leave a country in order to settle permanently elsewhere Carl emigrated from the UK in 2012. Now he lives in Spain.

immigrate To come to live/settle in a foreign country My friend Anna immigrated to the UK in 2014. She loves living here.