Made vs. Make: Know the Difference
By Shumaila Saeed || Updated on December 25, 2023
Made is the past tense and past participle of make, indicating an action completed in the past. Make is the base form, referring to the act of creating or forming something.
Key Differences
Made is the past and past participle form of the verb make. It is used to describe actions that have been completed. For example, "She made dinner yesterday." Conversely, Make is the present tense form, used for current or future actions, as in "I will make dinner tonight."
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Dec 05, 2023
In terms of grammatical function, made serves as a key component in perfect and past perfect tenses. It reflects an action that was completed before the current moment or another past action. For instance, "He had made a decision by then." In contrast, make is used in present, future, and imperative forms, like "Make your bed every morning."
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Dec 05, 2023
The word made often implies a sense of completion or finality. It is used when referring to something that has already been created or formed, as in "The sculpture was made of clay." On the other hand, make suggests the process of creation or formation is ongoing or yet to happen, like in "We will make a sculpture."
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Dec 05, 2023
Made can also function as an adjective, describing something that is created or manufactured, such as "a made-to-order dress." In contrast, make as a verb conveys the act of creating, forming, or causing something, as in "She likes to make her clothes."
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Dec 05, 2023
In idiomatic expressions, the usage of made and make varies. Made appears in phrases like "made up my mind," indicating a completed action. Meanwhile, make appears in phrases like "make a difference," suggesting an ongoing or future action.
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Dec 05, 2023
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Comparison Chart
Usage in Sentence
Indicates completed action
Indicates ongoing or future action
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Dec 05, 2023
Role in Tenses
Used in perfect tenses
Used in present, future, and imperative
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Dec 05, 2023
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Made and Make Definitions
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Make
To cause to exist or happen; bring about; create
Made problems for us.
Making a commotion.
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Oct 19, 2023
Make
To bring into existence by shaping, modifying, or putting together material; construct
Make a dress.
Made a stone wall.
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Oct 19, 2023
Make
To form by assembling individuals or constituents
We made a temporary information center using savvy volunteers.
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Oct 19, 2023
Made
Produced or manufactured by constructing, shaping, or forming. Often used in combination
Handmade lace.
Ready-made suits.
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Oct 19, 2023
Made
Produced or created artificially
Bought some made goods at the crafts fair.
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Oct 19, 2023
Make
To cause to be or become
Made her position clear.
A decision that made him happy.
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Oct 19, 2023
Made
Having been invented; contrived
These made excuses of yours aren't plausible.
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Oct 19, 2023
Make
To cause to assume a specified function or role
Made her treasurer.
Made Austin his home.
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Oct 19, 2023
Made
Artificially produced; pieced together; formed by filling in; as, made ground; a made mast, in distinction from one consisting of a single spar.
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Oct 19, 2023
Made
Having the sheets and blankets set in order; - of a bed; as, is the bed made?.
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Oct 19, 2023
Made
Successful or assured of success; as, a self-made man.
Now I am a made man forever.
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Oct 19, 2023
Made
Produced by a manufacturing process;
Bought some made goods at the local store; rope and nails
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Oct 19, 2023
Made
(of a bed) having the sheets and blankets set in order;
A neatly made bed
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Oct 19, 2023
Make
To achieve, produce, or attain
Made peace between the two sides.
Not making sense.
Didn't make the quota.
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Oct 19, 2023
Make
To acquire a place in or on
Made the baseball team.
Made the newspapers.
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Oct 19, 2023
Make
To draw a conclusion as to the significance or nature of
Don't know what to make of the decision.
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Oct 19, 2023
Make
To cause to be especially enjoyable or rewarding
Your being along really made the outing.
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Oct 19, 2023
Make
(Slang) To pretend to be; imitate. Used with like
Made like a ballerina.
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Oct 19, 2023
Make
To undergo fabrication or manufacture
This wool makes up into a warm shawl.
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Oct 19, 2023
Make
The style or manner in which a thing is made
Disliked the make of my coat.
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Oct 19, 2023
Make
A specific line of manufactured goods, identified by the manufacturer's name or the registered trademark
A famous make of shirt.
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Oct 19, 2023
Make
The physical or moral nature of a person
Found out what make of man he was.
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Oct 19, 2023
Make
The physical nature or build of an animal or person
A horse of a beautiful make.
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Oct 19, 2023
Make
(Slang) Identification of a person or thing, often from information in police records
Did you get a make on the thief?.
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Oct 19, 2023
Make
To build, construct, produce, or originate.
We made a bird feeder for our yard.
I'll make a man out of him yet.
He makes deodorants.
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Oct 19, 2023
Make
To bring about; to effect or produce by means of some action.
Make war
They were just a bunch of ne'er-do-wells who went around making trouble for honest men.
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Oct 19, 2023
Make
(religious) To create (the universe), especially (in Christianity) from nothing.
God made earth and heaven.
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Oct 19, 2023
Make
(transitive) To prepare (food); to cook (food).
I'm making cereal for breakfast. Who wants some?
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Oct 19, 2023
Make
To behave, to act.
To make like a deer caught in the headlights.
They made nice together, as if their fight never happened.
He made as if to punch him, but they both laughed and shook hands.
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Oct 19, 2023
Make
(intransitive) To tend; to contribute; to have effect; with for or against.
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Oct 19, 2023
Make
To constitute.
They make a cute couple.
This makes the third infraction.
One swallow does not a summer make.
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Oct 19, 2023
Make
To interpret.
I don’t know what to make of it.
They couldn't make anything of the inscription.
What time do you make it?
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Oct 19, 2023
Make
To bring into success.
This company is what made you.
She married into wealth and so has it made.
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Oct 19, 2023
Make
To cause to be.
The citizens made their objections clear.
This might make you a bit woozy.
Did I make myself heard?
Scotch will make you a man.
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Oct 19, 2023
Make
To cause to appear to be; to represent as.
Homer makes Aphrodite the daughter of Zeus, unlike Hesiod who depicted her as born from the sea foam.
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Oct 19, 2023
Make
To cause (to do something); to compel (to do something).
You're making her cry.
I was made to feel like a criminal.
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Oct 19, 2023
Make
To force to do.
The teacher made the student study.
Don’t let them make you suffer.
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Oct 19, 2023
Make
To indicate or suggest to be.
His past mistakes don’t make him a bad person.
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Oct 19, 2023
Make
To arrive at a destination, usually at or by a certain time.
We should make Cincinnati by 7 tonight.
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Oct 19, 2023
Make
To proceed (in a direction).
They made westward over the snowy mountains.
Make for the hills! It's a wildfire!
They made away from the fire toward the river.
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Oct 19, 2023
Make
(transitive) To move at (a speed).
The ship could make 20 knots an hour in calm seas.
This baby can make 220 miles an hour.
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Oct 19, 2023
Make
(transitive) To earn, to gain (money, points, membership or status).
They hope to make a bigger profit.
He didn't make the choir after his voice changed.
She made ten points in that game.
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Oct 19, 2023
Make
(transitive) To pay, to cover (an expense); chiefly used after expressions of inability.
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Oct 19, 2023
Make
To form or formulate in the mind.
Make plans
Made a questionable decision
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Oct 19, 2023
Make
(intransitive) To gain sufficient audience to warrant its existence.
In the end, my class didn't make, which left me with a bit of free time.
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Oct 19, 2023
Make
(obsolete) To act in a certain manner; to have to do; to manage; to interfere; to be active; often in the phrase to meddle or make.
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Oct 19, 2023
Make
Origin (of a manufactured article); manufacture; production.
The camera was of German make.
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Oct 19, 2023
Make
(dated) The act or process of making something, especially in industrial manufacturing.
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Oct 19, 2023
Make
(computing) A software utility for automatically building large applications, or an implementation of this utility.
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Oct 19, 2023
Make
(slang) Identification or recognition (of identity), especially from police records or evidence.
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Oct 19, 2023
Make
(cards) Turn to declare the trump for a hand (in bridge), or to shuffle the cards.
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Oct 19, 2023
Make
An agricultural tool resembling a scythe, used to cut (harvest) certain plants such as peas, reeds, or tares.
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Oct 19, 2023
Make
A companion; a mate; often, a husband or a wife.
For in this world no woman isWorthy to be my make.
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Oct 19, 2023
Make
Structure, texture, constitution of parts; construction; shape; form.
It our perfection of so frail a makeAs every plot can undermine and shake?
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Oct 19, 2023
Make
To cause to exist; to bring into being; to form; to produce; to frame; to fashion; to create.
He . . . fashioned it with a graving tool, after he had made it a molten calf.
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Oct 19, 2023
Make
To produce, as something artificial, unnatural, or false; - often with up; as, to make up a story.
And Art, with her contending, doth aspireTo excel the natural with made delights.
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Oct 19, 2023
Make
To cause to be or become; to put into a given state verb, or adjective; to constitute; as, to make known; to make public; to make fast.
Who made thee a prince and a judge over us?
See, I have made thee a god to Pharaoh.
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Oct 19, 2023
Make
To bring about; to bring forward; to be the cause or agent of; to effect, do, perform, or execute; - often used with a noun to form a phrase equivalent to the simple verb that corresponds to such noun; as, to make complaint, for to complain; to make record of, for to record; to make abode, for to abide, etc.
Call for Samson, that he may make us sport.
Wealth maketh many friends.
I will neither plead my age nor sickness in excuse of the faults which I have made.
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Oct 19, 2023
Make
To cause to appear to be; to constitute subjectively; to esteem, suppose, or represent.
He is not that goose and ass that Valla would make him.
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Oct 19, 2023
Make
To execute with the requisite formalities; as, to make a bill, note, will, deed, etc.
He accuseth Neptune unjustly who makes shipwreck a second time.
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Oct 19, 2023
Make
To require; to constrain; to compel; to force; to cause; to occasion; - followed by a noun or pronoun and infinitive.
I will make them hear my words.
They should be made to rise at their early hour.
Shumaila Saeed
Oct 19, 2023
Make
To find, as the result of calculation or computation; to ascertain by enumeration; to find the number or amount of, by reckoning, weighing, measurement, and the like; as, he made the distance of; to travel over; as, the ship makes ten knots an hour; he made the distance in one day.
Who makes or ruins with a smile or frown.
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Oct 19, 2023
Make
To become; to be, or to be capable of being, changed or fashioned into; to do the part or office of; to furnish the material for; as, he will make a good musician; sweet cider makes sour vinegar; wool makes warm clothing.
And old cloak makes a new jerkin.
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Oct 19, 2023
Make
To compose, as parts, ingredients, or materials; to constitute; to form; to amount to; as, a pound of ham makes a hearty meal.
The heaven, the air, the earth, and boundless sea,Make but one temple for the Deity.
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Oct 19, 2023
Make
To be engaged or concerned in.
Gomez, what makest thou here, with a whole brotherhood of city bailiffs?
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Oct 19, 2023
Make
To reach; to attain; to arrive at or in sight of.
They that sail in the middle can make no land of either side.
If a child were crooked or deformed in body or mind, they made him away.
Make the doors upon a woman's wit, and it will out at the casement.
He was all made up of love and charms!
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Oct 19, 2023
Make
To act in a certain manner; to have to do; to manage; to interfere; to be active; - often in the phrase to meddle or make.
A scurvy, jack-a-nape priest to meddle or make.
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Oct 19, 2023
Make
To proceed; to tend; to move; to go; as, he made toward home; the tiger made at the sportsmen.
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Oct 19, 2023
Make
To tend; to contribute; to have effect; - with for or against; as, it makes for his advantage.
Follow after the things which make for peace.
Considerations infiniteDo make against it.
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Oct 19, 2023
Make
To compose verses; to write poetry; to versify.
To solace him some time, as I do when I make.
Joshua and all Israel made as if they were beaten before them, and fled.
My lord of London maketh as though he were greatly displeased with me.
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Oct 19, 2023
Make
A recognizable kind;
There's a new brand of hero in the movies now
What make of car is that?
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Oct 19, 2023
Make
Engage in;
Make love, not war
Make an effort
Do research
Do nothing
Make revolution
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Oct 19, 2023
Make
Give certain properties to something;
Get someone mad
She made us look silly
He made a fool of himself at the meeting
Don't make this into a big deal
This invention will make you a millionaire
Make yourself clear
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Oct 19, 2023
Make
Make or cause to be or to become;
Make a mess in one's office
Create a furor
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Oct 19, 2023
Make
Cause to do; cause to act in a specified manner;
The ads induced me to buy a VCR
My children finally got me to buy a computer
My wife made me buy a new sofa
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Oct 19, 2023
Make
Give rise to; cause to happen or occur, not always intentionally;
Cause a commotion
Make a stir
Cause an accident
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Oct 19, 2023
Make
Create or manufacture a man-made product;
We produce more cars than we can sell
The company has been making toys for two centuries
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Oct 19, 2023
Make
Make, formulate, or derive in the mind;
I draw a line here
Draw a conclusion
Draw parallels
Make an estimate
What do you make of his remarks?
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Oct 19, 2023
Make
Compel or make somebody or something to act in a certain way;
People cannot be made to integrate just by passing a law!
Heat makes you sweat
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Oct 19, 2023
Make
Create by artistic means;
Create a poem
Schoenberg created twelve-tone music
Picasso created Cubism
Auden made verses
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Oct 19, 2023
Make
Earn on some commercial or business transaction; earn as salary or wages;
How much do you make a month in your new job?
She earns a lot in her new job
This merger brought in lots of money
He clears $5,000 each month
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Oct 19, 2023
Make
Create or design, often in a certain way;
Do my room in blue
I did this piece in wood to express my love for the forest
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Oct 19, 2023
Make
To compose or represent:
This wall forms the background of the stage setting
The branches made a roof
This makes a fine introduction
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Oct 19, 2023
Make
Reach a goal, e.g.,
Make the first team
We made it!
She may not make the grade
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Oct 19, 2023
Make
Be or be capable of being changed or made into;
He makes a great host
He will make a fine father
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Oct 19, 2023
Make
Make by shaping or bringing together constituents;
Make a dress
Make a cake
Make a wall of stones
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Oct 19, 2023
Make
Perform or carry out;
Make a decision
Make a move
Make advances
Make a phone call
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Oct 19, 2023
Make
Make by combining materials and parts;
This little pig made his house out of straw
Some eccentric constructed an electric brassiere warmer
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Oct 19, 2023
Make
Change from one form into another;
Make water into wine
Make lead into gold
Make clay into bricks
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Oct 19, 2023
Make
Charge with a function; charge to be;
She was named Head of the Committee
She was made president of the club
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Oct 19, 2023
Make
Achieve a point or goal;
Nicklaus had a 70
The Brazilian team got 4 goals
She made 29 points that day
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Oct 19, 2023
Make
Reach a destination, either real or abstract;
We hit Detroit by noon
The water reached the doorstep
We barely made it to the finish line
I have to hit the MAC machine before the weekend starts
Shumaila Saeed
Oct 19, 2023
Make
Form by assembling individuals or constituents;
Make a quorum
The branches made a roof
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Oct 19, 2023
Make
Organize or be responsible for;
Hold a reception
Have, throw, or make a party
Give a course
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Oct 19, 2023
Make
Prepare for eating by applying heat;
Cook me dinner, please
Can you make me an omelette?
Fix breakfast for the guests, please
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Oct 19, 2023
Make
Head into a specified direction;
The escaped convict took to the hills
We made for the mountains
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Oct 19, 2023
Make
Amount to;
This salary increase makes no difference to my standard of living
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Oct 19, 2023
Make
Appear to begin an activity;
He made to speak but said nothing i the end
She made a if to say hello to us
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Oct 19, 2023
Make
Proceed along a path;
Work one's way through the crowd
Make one's way into the forest
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Oct 19, 2023
Make
Induce to have sex;
Harry finally seduced Sally
Did you score last night?
Harry made Sally
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Oct 19, 2023
Make
Assure the success of;
A good review by this critic will make your play!
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Oct 19, 2023
Make
Represent fictitiously, as in a play, or pretend to be or act like;
She makes like an actress
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Oct 19, 2023
Repeatedly Asked Queries
What is the basic difference between "made" and "make"?
"Made" is past tense, indicating completed actions, while "make" is present tense for ongoing actions.
Shumaila Saeed
Dec 05, 2023
Can "make" be used to indicate future actions?
Yes, like "I will make dinner."
Shumaila Saeed
Dec 05, 2023
Is "make" ever used in the past tense?
No, "make" is present tense; "made" is its past form.
Shumaila Saeed
Dec 05, 2023
How is "made" used in perfect tenses?
As part of a verb phrase, like "has made."
Shumaila Saeed
Dec 05, 2023
How does "make" function in idiomatic expressions?
It implies action or creation, like "make a difference."
Shumaila Saeed
Dec 05, 2023
Can "make" be used in a passive voice?
No, "made" is used in passive constructions.
Shumaila Saeed
Dec 05, 2023
Can "make" function as a noun?
Rarely, usually in the sense of brand or type.
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Dec 05, 2023
How is "make" used in questions?
To inquire about creation or decision-making, like "What will you make?"
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Dec 05, 2023
How is "made" used in the past perfect tense?
"He had made a decision before leaving."
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Dec 05, 2023
Is "made" used in the conditional mood?
Yes, as in "If it were made differently..."
Shumaila Saeed
Dec 05, 2023
Does "make" have an imperative form?
Yes, commonly used in instructions or requests.
Shumaila Saeed
Dec 05, 2023
Is "make" used in present continuous tense?
Yes, like "I am making a cake."
Shumaila Saeed
Dec 05, 2023
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About Author
Written by
Shumaila SaeedShumaila Saeed, an expert content creator with 6 years of experience, specializes in distilling complex topics into easily digestible comparisons, shining a light on the nuances that both inform and educate readers with clarity and accuracy.
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