What Does MAKE DO WITH mean?

The expression make do with means to manage with what is available, even when it’s not ideal. In other words, when you don’t have exactly what you need, you adapt and use the resources you have at the moment.

This phrase is extremely common in everyday English and is perfect for talking about limitations, improvisation, or temporary solutions.

To help you really understand it — and keep it on the tip of your tongue — let’s look at some natural examples. Notice that in English, make do with can be interpreted in several ways depending on context, such as manage with, get by with, or make something work.

Examples of “Make Do With”

• There wasn’t much food, but we made do.
  (There wasn’t much food, but we managed.)
• I don’t have a pen here. Can you make do with a pencil?
  (I don’t have a pen. Will a pencil do?)
• She had to make do with an old bicycle.
  (She had to manage with an old bicycle.)
• Can you make do with a cheaper cell phone plan?
  (Would a cheaper phone plan be enough?)
• We don’t have much money, so we’ll have to make do with what we have.
  (We’ll need to get by with what we already have.)

Make Do vs. Make Due: A Common Mistake

Interestingly, make do with often causes confusion — even among native speakers — especially in writing. Many people mistakenly write make due instead of make do.

Although some media outlets occasionally accept make due, the standard, traditional, and grammatically correct form is make do.

So if you want to write accurate and natural English, remember:
👉 The correct form is make do, not make due.

Where Does “Make Do” Come From?

For those curious about language origins, make do is actually a shortened form of the older expression:

make (something) do well enough

In this structure, the verb do carries a rare and somewhat obscure meaning: “to serve a specific purpose.”

So the original idea behind make do is:

to make something serve a purpose, even if it’s not perfect.

That’s why make do with also conveys the idea of improvising, adapting, or getting by with limited resources.

How to Learn and Use “Make Do With” Naturally

There are other English expressions that also convey the idea of managing or getting by. However, for now, focus on mastering make do with first.

Here’s how to really internalize it:

• Look for more real examples in context
• Write it down in your vocabulary notebook
• Create your own sentences
• Use it whenever the opportunity comes up

You don’t need to learn everything at once. Language learning works best when it’s gradual, contextual, and repeated. 😉

» This blog post was first published in Portuguese on Ocotber 14, 2012.