5 Uses of make

5 usos de "to make" en inglés

Por soprenderte que pueda parecerte, to make no siempre se traduce como hacer. Dependiendo del contexto, tiene muchos más significados. En este artículo nos vamos a centrar en cinco usos muy comunes del verbo "to make". ¡A ver si los conocías todos!
 

1. I'm sorry, I made a mistake.

Lo siento, cometí un error.
Aunque no es estrictamente un error (jeje), to commit an error no suena nada natural en casi ningún contexto en inglés. De hecho noventa y nueve de cada cien veces que un angloparlante reconoce haber cometido un error, dice I made a mistake. Vamos, que se usa muchísimo más to make que to commit en este contexto.
 

2. That song makes me sad.

Esa canción me pone triste.
That song puts me sad?? ¡Qué horror! Eso no está bien dicho y punto. Es mucho mejor que digas That song MAKES me sad, con el verbo estrella de este post.
Además, esta expresión es un chollazo, porque sirve para todas las emociones: It makes me sad, It makes me happy, It makes me angry, It makes me tired, etc.
 

3. I'm afraid I can't make it by 9.00.

Me parece que no voy a llegar para las 9.
Otro sentido de to make es el de llegar a un lugar, teniendo en cuenta que el hecho de llegar nos cuesta cierto esfuerzo. Los nativos lo usan muchísimo así, como en este diálogo:
Can you make it byfive?
¿Puedes venir a las cinco?
No, sorry. I can’t make it by five, but I can make it at six.
No, lo siento. No voy a llegar a las cinco, pero puedo llegar a las seis.
It’s OK. Sonya said she could make it by five. I’ll ask her.
No pasa nada. Sonya dijo que podía venir a las cinco. Se lo pediré a ella.
 

4. I can’t make anything of it!

¡No me entero de nada!
Algunos se forrarían si les dieran un euro cada vez que piensan: I can’t make anything of it. Se trata una expresión utilísima para expresar que no te enteras de nada, aunque literalmente estás diciendo No puedo hacer nada de eso’: I can’t make anything of it.
 

5. That’s really made my day!

¡Eso me ha alegrado el día!
Y acabamos con una expresión muy bonica. Y es que si tu chico, tu chica, tu compañero de piso, o quien sea te lleva el desayuno a la cama, no puedes hacer otra cosa más que decirle: Thanks so much! That’s really made my day! (¡Muchísimas gracias! ¡Eso me ha alegrado el día!).

Y ahora a practicarlo

Aquí tienes un batiburrillo de ejemplos con los cinco usos del verbo to make que acabamos de ver. Ya sabes, tapa la columna de la derecha y traduce las frases en voz alta para practicar. Si quieres que se te grabe mejor, repite hasta que te salga perfecto. Y luego una vez más, para asegurar.
¡Tío, para! ¡La estás cabreando!
Dude, stop! You’re making her angry!
¡Gracias por venir! ¡Me has alegrado el día!
Thanks for coming! You’ve really made my day!
Pete leyó la novela, pero dijo que no se había enterado de nada.
Pete read the novel, but he said he couldn’t make anything of it.
No pude llegar a las 10, así que me perdí el concierto.
I couldn’t make it by 10, so I missed the gig.
¡Tú siempre sabes cómo alegrarme el día!You always know how to make my day!Ella actúa como si nunca hubiera cometido un error en su vida.She acts as if she’s never made a mistake in her life.He intentado ver The Wire, ¡pero no me entero de nada!I’ve tried watching The Wire, but I can’t make anything of it!¿Puedes venir a las cuatro entonces?Can you make it by four then?
Esas patatillas me han dado sed. ¡Ahora necesito otra cerveza!
Those crisps have made me thirsty. I need another beer now!
¿Has cometido algún error? Si sí, ¡empieza otra vez!
Have you made any mistakes? If so, start again!
 
¿Ya está? ¿Ya te los has aprendido los cinco? A ver, haz una frase con cada uno ahora mismo, sin mirar. Si no quieres que se te olviden en media hora, como pasa con todo lo que no se practica lo suficiente, tienes que darle un poco más de tralla al verbo to make.
Pero ¿cómo? Aquí va un truquillo: utiliza cada una de las cinco expresiones al menos cinco veces al día durante esta semana, ¡aunque sea cuando hables contigo misma/o! Te aseguramos que así se te grabarán a fuego en la memoria.
Si te ha gustado este artículo,  ya sabes que puedes compartirlo en las redes sociales utlizando los botones de la izquierda. That would really make our day! ;-)

Are you a phubber?

Stop Phubbing" is a campaign aimed to embarrass people over the rude use of mobile phones. "Phubbing" is a slang word that means ignoring others in a social setting by looking at your phone instead of paying attention.  "Tweeting" during weddings, or "instagramming" at dinner with friends are cases of phubbing. Posters have been created for use in cafes, bars and restaurants, with slogans including "Respect the food and the company you are in" or "Put your phone away and have a chat in the real world." 

The campaign creator, Alex Haigh, an Australian student, explained how the idea of the campaign was born: "A group of friends and I were chatting when someone commented how annoying being ignored by people on mobiles was. It's the people who do it all the time that we are targeting. It's a paradox. You disconnect from those around you in favour of those pretty much a.nywhere else. This often irritates your friends, unless they're phubbing too, in which case you all might as well have stayed home." 

Joseph Haddad, who owns a cafe in Brunswick, Germany, has displayed posters of the campaign to try to discourage bad manners: "It happens a lot, people come in and we ask them, 'what would you like?' and they stay on their phones. And we see a lot of people who are sitting at the table with friends, and they are on Facebook, or Twitter... don't you think they should be talking to each other instead?" Although the first "Stop Phubbing" campaign group started in Australia, at least five others have appeared as indignation about this new type of rude behaviour grows all over the world. 

RESPUESTAS

READING COMPREHENSION

CHOOSE AND WRITE THE CORRECT OPTION (A, B, C or D).

1. "Stop phubbing" is a campaign against ... 

(a) the use of posters in cafes.(b) the use of social networks. (c) chatting with friends in bars. (d) misusing mobile phones. 

2. Alex Haig... 

(a) works in a restaurant. (b) is a very famous phubber. (c) doesn't like socializing. (d) considers phubbing disrespectful. 

ARE THESE STATEMENTS TRUE OR FALSE? JUSTIFY YOUR ANSWERS WITH THE PRECISE WORDS OR PHRASES FROM THE TEXT, OR USE YOUR OWN WORDS.

3. The word 'phubbing' originated as a colloquial way of referring to crazy behaviour at weddings and other parties.
FALSE: "Phubbing" is a slang word that means ignoring others in a social setting by looking at your phone instead of paying attention.

4. The campaign was advertised in the media.
FALSE: Posters have been created for use in cafes, bars and restaurants, with slogans including "Respect the food and the company you are in" or "Put your phone away and have a chat in the real world."FALSE: Joseph Haddad, who owns a cafe in Brunswick, Germany, has displayed posters of the campaign to try to discourage bad manners

5. It is very unusual for customers not to answer when they are asked to order at the bar.
FALSE: "It happens a lot, people come in and we ask them, 'what would you like?' and they stay on their phones. (...)" 

6. Anger over impolite mobile phone use is increasing.
TRUE: Although the first "Stop Phubbing" campaign group started in Australia, at least five others have appeared as indignation about this new type of rude behaviour grows all over the world.

 

USE OF ENGLISH

7. FIND IN THE TEXT ONE WORD MEANING "to try to make people not want to do something."
discourage  (L.12)

8. GIVE ONE OPPOSITE FOR "rude" (adjective) (line 15) AS IT IS USED IN THE TEXT.
polite

9. FILL IN THE GAP WITH THE CORRECT OPTION:  with / at / for / on

"Phubbers should apologize for their behavior." 

10. GIVE AN ADJECTIVE WITH THE SAME ROOT AS "talk" (verb).
talkative 

11. FIND IN THE TEXT ONE SYNONYM FOR "irritating" (adjective).
annoying  (L.7)

12. FILL IN THE GAP WITH A CORRECT FORM OF THE VERB IN BRACKETS: 

"I wish I had paid (pay) more attention to my friends the last time I met them." 

13. REWRITE THE SENTENCE WITHOUT CHANGING ITS MEANING. BEGIN AS INDICATED. "You should talk to each other face to face."
You had better talk to each other face to face. (Consulta la explicación en COMENTARIOS)

14. GIVE A QUESTION FOR THE UNDERLINED WORDS: 

"I lost my cell phone at the cafeteria."
Where did you lose your cell phone?

15. TURN THE FOLLOWING SENTENCE INTO THE PASSIVE VOICE: 

"Waiters ask customers to stop phoning while they are ordering."
Customers are asked (by the waiters) to stop phoning while they are ordering.

16. TURN THE FOLLOWING SENTENCE INTO REPORTED SPEECH: 

"These people are not listening to their friends now," said the waiter.
The waiter said that those people were not listening to their friends then.

17. COMPLETE THE FOLLOWING CONDITIONAL SENTENCE: 

"If I left my mobile phone at home + , + subject + would/could/might + verb (...) " (Type 2)

Marking Code

This is the code you will have to use to revise your compositions by yourselves. After making the corrections you consider necessary, you cand send them to me once again, to obtain a better mark in your writing production.

Rephrasing with tenses

REPHRASING EXERCISES (REVIEW).- TENSES 1. She read the book first and then she saw the film. After… 2. Steve started learning the violin a month ago. Steve´s… 3. I haven´t been to an Indian restaurant for ages. It´s ages… 4. The last time Nancy came here was in 1986. Nancy hasn´t… 5. This is my first visit to Japan. This is the first… 6. How long have Helen and Robert been married? When… 7. She has never been to the club before. It´s… 8. She has never heard such a funny story. It´s… 9. It´s the worst headache she´s ever had. She´s… 10. It´s months since I saw Jane. I haven´t… 11. When did she come back? Since… 12. I haven´t spoken to him for a week. The last… 13. How long is it since he moved here? When… 14. The last time I went to Brussels was two years ago. I haven´t… 15. I´ve never heard such a silly story. It´s… 16. When did you last go to London? When was… 17. I haven´t finished my homework yet. I´m still… 18. I have never tasted muesli before. It´s…

Relative clauses

Relative clauses from Pedro José Ortiz Villamor

Exercises for revision Unit 8

Add a relative pronoun and rearrange the words to form sentences.

      

       1. her son / the day / was born / she’ll never forget / .

                                                                                                                                                    

       2.  I used to play / has been closed / Hyde Park / .

                                                                                                                                                    

       3.  Mr Smith / is 80 years old / lives across the road / .

                                                                                                                                                    

       4.  had been delayed / the train / eventually arrived / .

                                                                                                                                                    

.      5.  the haircut / he gave me / too long / is / ?

                                                           

Why is Shakespeare so famous? Shakespeare in Love

Shakespeare's reputation as the greatest English-language writer stems from at least five dimensions of his collective work. The first of these is the sheer scope of his achievement. Over some thirty-eight plays, Shakespeare addressed virtually every aspect of human experience. His plays include comedies, tragedies, histories, romances, and problem plays: it is difficult to think of a dramatic situation, a human dilemma, or a major theme that his works do not touch upon. That being so, although he wrote for a specific audience of a particular historical era, Shakespeare's works are timeless. In fact, many of his works have been updated to our own time. Depth is a third facet of the Shakespeare canon. His works recognize the complexity of our experience and often yield contradictory interpretations of their meaning. Working in the meter of natural or conversational English, his plays were and remain accessible. Granted, Shakespeare texts do include some words and phrases that require definition. Nevertheless, with the aid of a few explanatory footnotes, they can be easily understood. Lastly, creative innovation is a hallmark of Shakespeare's writing. Although he utilized dramatic, poetic, fictional, and historical sources and models, the Bard of Avon invariably put his own stamp upon these materials. Several of his works were experimental when they were first staged.

What do we know about his life?

Passive voice

Passive grammar powerpoint from Angel Ingenio