Learn English – “I did a few mistakes” vs “I made a few mistakes”

collocationsdifferenceword-usage

What is the difference between:

  1. "I did a few mistakes."

and,

  1. "I made a few mistakes."

Are they the same or not?

My question is about the collocation: Can I use "made" for the word 'mistake' or not?

Best Answer

Do and make in this context are both light verbs†. Which verb works is somewhat arbitrary; you'll simply have to memorize which light verb goes with which noun, one by one:

give a hug
make a mistake
take a nap
do a review
have a swim

The correct light verb for mistake is make, and your phrase made a few mistakes is perfectly fine.

In contrast, do is the wrong light verb, so your phrase *did a few mistakes is ungrammatical.

†For more information about light verbs, see Huddleston & Pullum's Cambridge Grammar of the English Language (2002), p.290.

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