I 9 Make, do, have, take ‘There are many common expressions with these verbs, and often they are different in other Janguages, so you need to learn them. A Things we make a mistake (= an error) He made a few mistakes in the exam, a meal (= prepare and Thad to make my own dinner last night. cook something to eat) money (= become rich) He made a lot of money when he worked in America. friends It’s not always easy to make friends in a foreign country. a decision We can have the red ones or the green ones, but we must ‘make a decision (choose the red or green) before 6 p.m. a noise Tean’t work when the children make a lot of noise. progress (U) (= improvement) Her English is good now; she has made a lot of progress. B Things we do homework (U) 1 forgot to do my English homework last night. the housework (U} (= cleaning) My mother does all the housework in our house. subjects (= study subjects) Did you do English at school? a course I did a one-week course in word processing the shopping (= buy food) always do the shopping at the weekend. research (U) (= detailed study He's doing research in physics at Rome University. in one subject) (someone) a favour (= do I don’t have any coffee. Could you do me a favour something to help someone) and lend me some? something/anything/nothing I didn’t do anything last night. That boy has done nothing all day c gs we have relax / do nothing) They had a long rest after the game. food (= eat food) and drink Thad steak but Paul just had a cup of tea. a drink (= drink something) Let’s have a drink before dinner. a bath/shower Talways have a bath when I get up. a party I'm having a party for my birthday. a baby a (nice/greavterrible) time ‘We had a very nice time in Switzerland last year. be pregnant or give birth) Mary is ha 1g. a baby next month. Things we take an exam (also ‘do an exam’) T’m going to take four exams next month. a photo She took lots of photos on holiday. a decision (also ‘make’) I'm not very good at taking decisions. a shower (also ‘have’) I'm just going to take a shower before lunch. a bustrain/plane/taxi We were late, so we took a taxi to the airport. Note: Notice the use of be + adjective [Not have-+noun] in these expressions: She was lucky I'm hungry (= I want to eat) I'm thirsty (= I want a drink) a2 English Vocabulary in Use (pre:intermediate & intermediate)19.8 19.2 19.4 Exercises Cross out the incorrect verbs in these sentences. Both verbs may be correct. T couldn't do/make the homework last night. She’s going to make/have a party for her birthday. Did he do/make many mistakes? I often make/do the housework. Did you makeltake many photos? When do you take/do your next exam? I want to do/make a course in English. We must take/make a decision soon. He is doing/making research in chemistry. They did/made a lot of noise during the party. See wauaene 1 Replace the underlined word(s) with a suitable word or expression from the opposite page. Example: 1 want to cat something. Um hungry 1 Let’s drink something. 6 [usually buy my food on Saturday morning. 2 P'm going to prepare lunch tomorrow. 7 They both want to become rich. 3 Pill clean the house at the weekend, 8 When are they going to decide? 4 Latea pizza in the restaurant. 9 I think she enjoyed herself last night. 5 Twanta drink. 10. She is definitely improving. How many driving lessons has she had now? Look at the four split pictures. Describe what happened using at least two expressions from the opposite page in each one, Look at the example first. Last Friday evening I had 2 party but the next= door neighbour combined and said we were making Yoo mich noise, Test yourself. Without looking at the opposite page, write down six things you can: Examples: make .2.mistake... do the. housework. have ..2.rest English Vocabulary in Use (presintermediate & intermediate) 4313 30 Collocation (word partners) What is collocation? If you want to use a word naturally, you need to learn the other words that often go with it (word partners). These can be very different from language to language. For example, in English we say I missed the bus (= I didn’t catch the bus) [Nor Host the bus] She made a mistake [Nor she-did-e-mistake] A heavy smoker (= someone who smokes a lot) [NOT a-strong-smoker or a-big-smokee] Ik was a serious illness [Nor bigness or e-strong-iiiness] Verb + noun The meaning of many of these examples may be clear, but did you know these verbs and nouns go together? Is it the same or different in your language? start the car (= turn on the engine) start a family (= think about having your first child) tell a story tell the truth (# tell a lie) tell a joke run a shop/company (= manage/control it) get on a bus (# get off) get in(co) a car (# get out (of) a car) miss a person (= be unhappy because that person is not there) miss a lesson (= when you don’t come to a lesson) Adjective + noun Common adjectives often combine with a wide range of nouns. a soft drink (= non-alcoholic drink) a soft voice (# a loud voice) dry wine (# sweet wine) dry weather (# wet weather} strong coffee (# weak coffee) a strong accent (# a slight accent) hard work (= hard physically or mentally) a great success (= very successful) heavy traffic (= a lot of ears) heavy rain (= raining a lot) Look at some of these phrases in example sentences. I can’t understand his English because he has such a strong accent. Ic was hard work organising the conference, but I think it was a great success. You always get heavy traffic during the rush hour. Adverb + adjective In these examples, all the adverbs mean very, but we choose to use them with certain adjectives. (You could still use very in all of these examples if you wish.) 1 was terribly sorry to hear about your accident. He's highly unlikely to come now. (= I'm almost sure he will not come) She is fully aware of the problem, (= she knows all about the problem) It is vitally important that you make a note of common collocations in your norebook. Collocation in dictionaries All good dictionaries now include examples of common collocations but they do it in different ways: sometimes they are in bold print after the definition; sometimes in italics after the definition; and sometimes in the definition and examples. (See Unit 3, Section B.) English Vocabulary in Use (preintermediate & intermediate)13.2 13.4 Exercises You can keep a record of common collocations by using ‘spidergrams’. These are very clear ‘on the page and you can add to them. Complete these. Write the opposite of these phrases and expressions. 1 sweet wine 5 get on the bus 2a strong accent 6 tell the truth 3. strong coffee 7 catch the bus 4 a soft voice 8 get in the car Find a suitable adjective, verb or adverb from the opposite page to complete these sentences. 10m sorry I'm late, but I the bus and had to wait ages for another one, 2 He everyone the same joke, and nobody laughed. 3. We had lots of snow in the night and I had a problem the car this morning. 4 Michael is the owner, but his brother John the company, and he has about 50 employees working for him. 5 I think they want to get married and a family. 6 That's the third mistake she’s today. 7 ies important that we finish this work by the end of the week. 8 If this rain continues, | think he’s unlikely to come. 9 Idon’t drink coffee at night because it keeps me awake. 0 I really my family when I stayed in Australia on my own last year. The adjectives on the left can all mean ‘very big’, but we often use them specifically with the nouns on the right. Use a good dictionary to find the correct collocations, and then complete the sentences below. wide large shoulders range broad vast majority size 1 Lused to be medium but I need a now because I've put on weight. 2 Fortunately the shop I go to has a of shirts and jumpers to choose from. 3. I've also got very , but my waist is quite small, 4 A few men can’t find clothes to fit them, but the are small, medium or large. English Vocabulary in Use (pre-intermediate & intermediate) 31