MAKE and DO

 

Make and do are phrasal verbs which mean they can have a variety of meanings.

 Please compare the following two sentences:

«They do a very good lunch at this restaurant. »

«Have you made dinner yet, darling? »
The first sentence describes an activity that takes place on a regular basis.
The second sentence focuses on a one time situation.

 

making a mistake;                                   make a complete fool of myself;

make the wrong decision;                       make someone angry;

do the right thing;                                   did special designs;     

made wonderful pieces of furniture;       they did a good lunch there;

do my homework;                                   make the right choice;

made a face;                                           made it easy;

making an attempt;                                I made my apologies;                   

 

make good the damage à  repair or mend something that has been broken;

I had done it again à If you have repeated a stupid mistake;

made out à  can not hear or understand what a person says because it is so noisy;

made as little noise as possible à try to be very silent.

that had made him à If you manage to do a very good job establishing a name for yourself and your services.

did a fair price à If a store always offers its products at a fair price

made my mind up à When you think about your options and then select one of them

making a fuss about something à complain about it.;

doesn't do any harm à If you do harm to a person you hurt or injure them.

                                      If you do harm to something you damage it;

make it back à manage to find your way back to the point where you started from;

the day is done à  you should be finished with your work and relax;

doing time à being punished for doing something wrong.

made light of the matter à If you accept an unpleasant situation lightheartedly.

make the best of it à do everything to exploit the situation to your best advantage.

 

BRING

The simple verb bring usually means to take something or someone with you:
«Don't forget to bring your passport when you come to the airport.»

«Please bring a friend when you come to the party tonight.»

When you add a preposition to bring, you create a new verb and a new meaning. Bring up, means to educate a child and look after it until is an adult.

”He was brought up by his aunt and uncle.”
His business had been brought down à gone bankrupt
Criminal charges had been brought against himà he had been faced with criminal
bring up this information à reveal this information
Mary would always bring up the rear à always be there in the background
She decided to bring her daughter on in the art of public speaking à to develop her daughter's public speaking skills
the awareness brought her up against à had forced her into being cautious
the whole business had brought shame on the family name à had dishonoured bring about a reconciliation à effect a reconciliation
was even bringing round to à was even convincing
bringing off à achieving success
he was able to bring about à he succeeded in (+ing)
which brought about a lively debate à which caused a lively debate
she even brought her mother in on à she even involved her mother
was brought to light à was revealed
He was brought before the court à He was charged
his political career was brought to an abrupt endà his career ended precipitately
This news brought out the worst à This news caused the worst to come out
brought the discussion round to à  steered the discussion towards
one major paper brought out the details à published the details
Sheila brought her mother round à Sheila revived her mother
the way you were brought up à the way you were reared

 

 

HOLD

 

I have to hold myself together à I have to compose myself
I do hold off doing things à I delay doing things
hold on to à cling to ;                held up à stuck in;
held them back à stopped them;           hold forth à speak out;
holding to the old-fashioned belief à maintaining the old-fashioned belief
hold down their jobs à continue to keep their jobs
held on to a job à retain/keep a job
held off making any comments à refrained from making any comments
hold out a helping hand  à offer a hand
hold out without breaking out  à hang on without breaking out into a sweat
hold with this newfangled technology  à believe in this newfangled technology
feelings were not being held in any longer à were not being suppressed any longer
held up in the lift à trapped in a lift
holding out much hope à offering much hope
holding back my feelings à suppressing my feelings
my appointment could be held over for another day à postponed to another day
hold to my plan à stick to my plan
our spirits held up very well à  our spirits remained high
we all seemed to hold ourselves up à we all seemed to remain in high spirits
hold on for just a bit longer à stay on for just a bit longer
held out promises à offered promises
hold on à stay on

 

 

TAKE

 

he didn't take to the idea à he didn't like the idea
taken over from his previous boss à acquired the job from his previous boss
took him aside à he led him to one side to talk to him privately
take up much of his time à occupy much of his time
took up a piece of paper à picked up a piece of paper
take the matter up à discuss the matter
take the matter further à discuss the matter in greater detail
take himself off  à dimiss/fire himself
take in the news à absorb/grasp the news
taken up with himself à preoccupied with himself
sales would soon take off à sales would soon rise considerably
take up all those hobbies à start doing all his hobbies
take to his new life à enjoy his new life
taken aback by the news  à shocked by the news
take Henderson by the throat à strangle Henderson
he took after his father à he was like his father
take in the possible advantages à comprehend the possible advantages
taking it out on Henderson à blaming Henderson
taken up with making preparations à preoccupied with making preparations
what task he had taken on à what task he had committed himself to
he took out a loan à he negotiated a loan
the bank manager taken with à the bank manager was impressed by
took on two of the fifty that applied à employed/hired two of the fifty that applied
taken on another ten staff à employed/hired another ten staff
taken over a local agency à become owner of a local agency
they took him for à they regarded him as
they took back all their critical remarks à they retracted all their critical remarks
take in a large amount of business à generate a large amount of business
taken the tax away from his earnings à deducted the tax from his earnings
he didn't take on airs à he didn't behave in a conceited way
taking off the boss à mimicking the boss
he had taken upon himself to apply for a job à he had decided to apply for a job
take him down  à humiliate him
as he took down his details à as he wrote down/jotted down
take on a role  à accept a role
he took to the idea immediately à he liked the idea immediately
Charlie took out a video à Charlie removed a video
He was taking everything in à He was absorbing/grasping everything

 

LOOK

 

often you are looked on à often you are regarded
needs looking after à needs medical attention
looking onto the lake à with a view on the lake
just looking out of the window à just looking through the window
They look away à They look in the other direction
look into the matter à investigate the matter
looking for support à hoping for support
looking forward to finding à awaiting with pleasure the idea of finding
I look back to a time à I reminisce about a time
to look ahead of you. à look in front of you
look in on her à visit her
I looked her up and down à I examined what she looked like
looking out for you à trying to find you
looked right through me à ignored me
looked on à watched
looked round à turned to look
look her over again à check what she looked like again
look her up à pay her a visit
looked about the hall à had a good look at the hall
looked down on her à despised her
looked up the word à checked the meaning of the word
things are looking up à things are improving
looked up to me à respected me
looking out for my neighbors à trying to see my neighbors

 

 

GO

 

going on about à talking about in detail

not go down very well à not be accepted easily by

go around  à walk about

go through à complete (a performance of)

go together à combine/join up

go out à are turned out/off

go about looking for à trying hard to find

went out à left home/the house

going along à continuing

went well together à suited each other

go back à return

go for it à take a chance

went ahead à proceeded with

went off à exploded

go around à suffice/be sufficient

my heart went out à I felt sympathy for

went down à came down

gone over à practiced

go into detail à explain exactly

going up à increasing

going down à getting worse

nothing going for him à nothing to recommend him

 

 

LET

Let on: odati (that, who)

Let down: razočarati, dodati spustiti

Let (in)to: pustiti u, ispustiti, rastegnuti (odjeću)

Let up: zaustaviti, popustiti, stalno nešto raditi (živcirati nekoga)

Let off: pustiti, oprostiti, opaliti, eksplodirati

 

LOOK

Look down: prezirati

Look after: brinuti se, biti odgovoran za

Look ahead: planirati

Look at: pogledati, brzo pročitati, ispitati, proučavati, razmatrati, razmišljati

Look through: pregledati, ne primijetiti

Look up: (the situation): poboljšati, pronaći podatak, posjetiti

to: diviti se, poštivati

 

PUT

Put up: izgraditi, podići, postaviti, povećati, dati nekome smještaj

a fight: show determination; money: give for a purpose, a proposal: predložiti

Put down: kritizirati, platiti, napisati, ubiti (uspavati), zaustaviti vozilo

as: guess without having information

for: zapisati za nešto

to: pripisati (iskustvu)

Put in: ugraditi, utrošiti vrijeme/novac, dodati (say)

Put off: odgoditi, odbiti, smetati (pažnju)

Put on: obući, nanijeti, svirati, pretvarati se, udebljati se, postaviti predstavu, ukrcati,

riskirati novac

 

CUT

Cut down: smanjiti, ubiti, skratiti

Cut off: razdvojiti, presjeći, odsjeći (supply, people, place), stop being friendly

Cut up: razrezati na dijelove, ružno se ponašati, biti jako ozlijeđen,

be cut up about sth: very upset

cut up rough: ljuto ili agresivno reagirati

Cut across: presjeći (preko polja), problem cuts across: affects different groups

Cut out: maknuti, oblikovati, prestati raditi nešto štetno

cut it out: prestati raditi nešto što druge živcira

cut sb out: isključiti (iz društva)