maak is one of the first verbs worth mastering, because it does an enormous amount of work. On its own it means to make (and, in many fixed phrases, to do). But its real value is as a light verb: it anchors dozens of everyday collocations — kos maak (cook), koffie maak (make coffee), 'n fout maak (make a mistake) — and it builds a family of separable verbs — oopmaak (open), toemaak (close), skoonmaak (clean). Learn maak early and a whole web of useful expressions opens up at once. The narrow question of when Afrikaans prefers maak over doen has its own page, maak vs doen; here we cover the forms and the collocations.
Core forms
maak is a regular verb. One present form serves every subject, the perfect is het gemaak, and the future is sal maak.
| Form | Afrikaans | English |
|---|---|---|
| Infinitive | maak | to make / to do |
| Present (all persons) | ek / jy / hy / ons / hulle maak | I / you / he / we / they make |
| Perfect | het gemaak | made / have made |
| Future | sal maak | will make |
| Imperative | Maak! | Make! / Do! |
Ek maak elke oggend vir my kinders kos.
I make food for my kids every morning.
Sy het 'n pragtige kaart vir my verjaarsdag gemaak.
She made a beautiful card for my birthday.
Ek sal vanaand 'n nuwe plan maak.
I'll make a new plan tonight.
maak as a light verb: the core collocations
A "light verb" carries little meaning by itself; the noun beside it does the heavy lifting. maak is the workhorse light verb of Afrikaans, and the safest way to learn these is as whole chunks, noun and verb together.
| Collocation | English |
|---|---|
| kos maak | to cook (lit. make food) |
| koffie / tee maak | to make coffee / tea |
| 'n fout maak | to make a mistake |
| 'n plan maak | to make a plan; to find a way |
| geld maak | to make money |
| 'n geluid / lawaai maak | to make a sound / noise |
| vrede maak | to make peace |
| 'n grap maak | to make a joke |
Wag, ek maak gou koffie.
Wait, I'll quickly make coffee.
Almal maak foute — moenie bekommerd wees nie.
Everyone makes mistakes — don't worry.
Moenie so 'n lawaai maak nie, die baba slaap.
Don't make such a noise, the baby is sleeping.
The separable maak verbs: oopmaak, toemaak, skoonmaak
A whole set of common verbs is built from a particle plus maak. In the present tense the particle splits off and goes to the end of the clause; in the perfect, ge- slots in between the particle and maak (oopgemaak, toegemaak, skoongemaak). The full mechanics live on the separable verbs page; here are the most useful members.
| Verb | English | Perfect |
|---|---|---|
| oopmaak | to open | het oopgemaak |
| toemaak | to close, shut | het toegemaak |
| skoonmaak | to clean | het skoongemaak |
| reggemaak (regmaak) | to fix, repair, prepare | het reggemaak |
| klaarmaak | to finish, get ready | het klaargemaak |
| wegmaak | to get rid of, lose | het weggemaak |
Watch the split in the present tense — the particle lands at the very end:
Maak asseblief die venster oop, dit is warm hier binne.
Please open the window, it's hot in here.
Sy maak die winkel elke aand om sesuur toe.
She closes the shop every evening at six.
Ek het my kamer vanoggend skoongemaak.
I cleaned my room this morning.
Kan jy my fiets regmaak? Die ketting is af.
Can you fix my bike? The chain is off.
maak as a causative: gelukkig maak, wakker maak
maak also reaches into "make someone/something become X" — the resultative causative. The pattern is maak + adjective (the result) plus the thing affected: iemand gelukkig maak (make someone happy), iemand wakker maak (wake someone up, literally "make awake"). This extends the light-verb logic from "make a thing" to "make a state come about", and it is enormously productive.
| Causative | English |
|---|---|
| gelukkig maak | to make happy |
| wakker maak | to wake (someone) up |
| bang maak | to frighten, scare |
| seer maak | to hurt (someone) |
| vies / kwaad maak | to make angry |
| nat maak | to make wet, to wet |
Jou brief het my baie gelukkig gemaak.
Your letter made me very happy.
Moenie die hond bang maak nie.
Don't frighten the dog.
Maak my asseblief om sewe-uur wakker.
Please wake me up at seven o'clock.
Pasop, jy gaan jou klere nat maak.
Careful, you're going to get your clothes wet.
Common mistakes
❌ Ek oopmaak die venster.
Incorrect — in the present the particle splits off to the end of the clause.
✅ Ek maak die venster oop.
I open the window.
❌ Ek het die kamer skoonmaak.
Incorrect — the perfect needs ge- infixed: skoongemaak.
✅ Ek het die kamer skoongemaak.
I cleaned the room.
❌ Sy maakte vir my koffie.
Incorrect — there is no -te past; the past is het gemaak.
✅ Sy het vir my koffie gemaak.
She made coffee for me.
❌ Jou brief het my gelukkig gedoen.
Incorrect — the causative 'make X' uses maak, not doen.
✅ Jou brief het my gelukkig gemaak.
Your letter made me happy.
Key takeaways
- maak = to make/do: one present form, perfect het gemaak, future sal maak.
- As a light verb it anchors core chunks — kos maak, koffie maak, 'n fout maak, 'n plan maak — best learned whole.
- It builds separable verbs: oopmaak, toemaak, skoonmaak — the particle splits to the end in the present (maak … oop) and rejoins around ge- in the perfect (oopgemaak).
- As a causative, maak + adjective means "make become": gelukkig maak, wakker maak, bang maak.
- For when Afrikaans prefers maak over doen, see maak vs doen.
Now practice Afrikaans
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Start learning Afrikaans→Related Topics
- maak vs doen (make vs do)B1 — Afrikaans splits English 'make/do' across maak (create, prepare, cause), doen (perform, carry out) — and a sneaky third verb, neem, for decisions.
- Light-Verb Collocations: maak, doen, neem, gee, kry, vatB2 — The support-verb engine of Afrikaans — which of maak, doen, neem, gee, kry, vat goes with which noun, and why English calques fail.
- Separable Verbs: opstaan, aankom, uitgaanA2 — How separable verbs split — the stressed particle drops to the end of a main clause but rejoins the stem in subordinate clauses and infinitives.
- doen (to do) — Full FormsA1 — The verb doen means 'to do' in the narrow sense of performing or carrying out — a smaller job than English 'do', and quite separate from maak 'to make'.
- The Past Tense: het + ge-participleA1 — Afrikaans has one ordinary past tense — het plus a ge-participle at the end of the clause — and it covers both 'I walked' and 'I have walked'.