Making make and made clear helps you talk about creating, causing, and doing things in English. This simple guide goes through key uses with short examples to keep you learning quickly.
Make
Make usually means to create something, cause something to happen, or force someone to do something. Use make with a noun or with someone plus a base verb for these ideas.
She likes to make (bake) cakes on weekends.
Made
Made is the past form of make and shows that the action of creating or causing something happened already. Use made in stories about finished actions or when describing results.
Make vs Do
Use make for creating, producing, or causing things, and use do for activities, tasks, or general work. Choosing between make and do changes the meaning, so pick the one that fits the action.
Make Someone Do
When you say make plus a person plus a base verb, you talk about forcing, convincing, or causing that person to do something. This structure is common for showing control or influence.
Idioms
There are many common expressions with make where the meaning isn’t literal, so learn idioms like make time or make a difference to sound natural. Idioms often follow set patterns.
Expression
Phrases with make appear in everyday speech for planning, giving reactions, and measuring value. Practice expressions like make plans, make money, and make an effort to use English smoothly.
Summary
Use make for creating or causing things and made for past actions. Remember to choose make versus do based on whether you’re talking about producing something or performing a task. Learn idioms and set expressions to sound natural.
Last updated: Fri Oct 24, 2025