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Hi there, and welcome to Wall Street’s “Two-Minute English”.
How are you doing? Today, we’re going to look at some confusing verbs and words in English. We’re going to look at the differences between “make” and “do”, “say” and “tell”, and “advice” and “opinion”.
Let’s start with “make” and “do”. To make something is to create or build something. For example, I am making a cake. I made a sandwich for work today. I like to make aeroplane models. That kid is making so much noise. To do something is to take action. I am doing my homework. I do my exercise in the morning. I didn’t do much over the weekend. I usually do very little after school.
However, to make someone do something can also mean to order someone to do something. My boss makes me work for long hours. My teacher makes me finish my homework. My parents make me clean my room. The verb “do” can also be used as an auxiliary verb and is very useful in questions and “yes” or “no” answers: Do you like to eat? Yes, I do. No, I don’t.
Let’s move on to “say” and “tell”. We use “say” when a person is actually saying something and you are quoting them. We use “tell” when a person is telling someone else something. So, here are some examples with “say”. John said Thailand is nice. Mary says you live in Mei Foo. My wife said: “I love you” this morning. Now, let’s look at “tell”. John told me Thailand is nice. Mary told me you live in Mei Foo. My wife told me she loves me this morning. Also, there are some phrases we can only use with “tell” and not “say”, e.g. tell a story, tell a secret, tell a lie, tell the truth, tell the future, and tell the time.
Finally, “advice” and “opinion”. An advice is something you give to someone to help them. For example: You should walk for at least 30 minutes a day. That’s good advice. An opinion is simply what you think about something: I think vegetables are good for your health. That’s my opinion.
Well, that’s all for this week’s “Two-Minute English”. Bye-bye.
