Re: Help with collocations, please

On Tue, 03 Jun 2008 09:21:17 GMT, Django Cat wrote:
>Anyway.  One of the early things we teach is collocation with 'make' and
'do' -
>'do the shopping', 'make the beds' 'do the wa****ng up'.  Is 'make the
bed' a
>cliche?  Or shall we all start doing the beds, instead?

I don't see how this is a matter of collocations and not simply of
meaning.  These two words are difficult for many non-native speakers
because their meanings are rolled up into one verb in so many languages.
Sure, each one has a whole host of idiosyncratic uses, of which "make the
bed" might be one, but "do the any-verb-ing" isn't a specific
collocation, it's an application of the most basic and general meaning of
"do."  Even the difference between "make the bed" and "do the dishes"
seems better to me to explain in terms of meaning than specific uses.
I'd save the list of collocations for things like doing a performance but
making an appearance.

¬R  \\\  http://users.bestweb.net/~notr/bsinl.html
 ///  T E A M W O R K
Together Everyone Achieves More Worthless Objectives, Reducing Knowledge