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G17 Make

Lesson Seventeen

Make

 The verb "make" is similar to "get" and "have" when saying that someone is doing work for you.

I made him clean his room.

The police officer made me pull over.

Her supervisor made her work on Sunday.

The above examples have this word order:

subject + "make" + direct object + verb (in the simple form)

This usage expresses that the subject has some sort of power or influence to have someone or something do something.

 

 His father made him wash the car.

 She made her husband help her clean the kitchen.

 If she doesn’t make her daughter eat her vegetables, she won’t eat them.

More examples:

I made the store give me my money back when I returned a broken cell phone.

The government made the company pay a large fine because it did something illegal.

Please don’t make me work on the weekend. I want to spend time with my family instead.

Note: I’ve included this lesson among the passive exercises because in some ways it’s similar. However, in these examples you’ll see there is no use of the verb "be" before "make." That would be different:

His car was made by Toyota.

 

Next: Lesson Eighteen

 

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