做 (zuò) is the default verb for doing and making in Chinese: 做饭 "cook," 做作业 "do homework," 做生意 "do business," 做老师 "be / work as a teacher." Like 打, much of its work is as a light verb — the noun after it carries most of the meaning, and 做 just says "carry out / produce." Two things complicate the picture. First, 做 has a written twin, 作 (also zuò), that owns a set of fixed compounds — 工作, 作业, 作文 — where you can't swap in 做. Second, in casual speech people reach for 干 (gàn) "do / work at" instead. This page sorts the three out. For a fuller treatment of 做 as a light verb, see the 做 as do/make page.
Sense 1: make / produce (cook, build, create)
The "make" sense — bringing something into being. Food is the everyday case: 做饭 "cook," 做菜 "make a dish," 做蛋糕 "make a cake."
妈妈正在厨房做饭。
māma zhèngzài chúfáng zuò fàn
Mom is cooking in the kitchen. — 做饭 'cook a meal'.
这个蛋糕是我自己做的。
zhège dàngāo shì wǒ zìjǐ zuò de
I made this cake myself.
她想做一件旗袍。
tā xiǎng zuò yí jiàn qípáo
She wants to have a qipao made. — 做 'make (a garment)'.
Sense 2: do / carry out an activity
The "do" sense — performing an action named by the following noun. This is the biggest group: 做作业 "do homework," 做运动 "exercise," 做生意 "do business," 做梦 "dream," 做实验 "do an experiment."
你在做什么？
nǐ zài zuò shénme
What are you doing? — the all-purpose 'do'.
我还没做完作业呢。
wǒ hái méi zuòwán zuòyè ne
I haven't finished my homework yet. — verb 做, but the noun is spelled 作业.
他在广州做生意。
tā zài Guǎngzhōu zuò shēngyi
He runs a business in Guangzhou. — 做生意 'do business'.
我昨晚做了一个奇怪的梦。
wǒ zuówǎn zuòle yí gè qíguài de mèng
I had a strange dream last night. — 做梦 'to dream'.
Sense 3: be / act as / work as a role
Followed by a person-role noun, 做 means "be / serve as / work as": 做老师 "be a teacher," 做妈妈 "be a mother." The related 做人 (zuò rén) means "conduct oneself as a (decent) person."
他大学毕业以后想做老师。
tā dàxué bìyè yǐhòu xiǎng zuò lǎoshī
After graduating, he wants to be a teacher. — 做 + role.
做人要诚实，做事要认真。
zuò rén yào chéngshí, zuò shì yào rènzhēn
Be honest in how you live, and thorough in what you do. — 做人 / 做事, a set pairing.
Sense 4: 做 vs 作 — the written twin
作 is the same syllable and root meaning, but it lives in fixed, more written or abstract compounds, and there you cannot substitute 做: 工作 "work," 作业 "homework," 作文 "essay," 合作 "cooperate," 作为 "as / serve as," 创作 "create (art)." Rule of thumb: if it's a set two-character word — especially a bookish or abstract one — check the spelling and treat it as vocabulary; if it's 做 + a free-standing object, use 做.
我在一家外企工作。
wǒ zài yì jiā wàiqǐ gōngzuò
I work at a foreign company. — 工作 is spelled with 作, never 做.
老师让我们写一篇作文。
lǎoshī ràng wǒmen xiě yì piān zuòwén
The teacher had us write an essay. — 作文, with 作.
两家公司决定合作。
liǎng jiā gōngsī juédìng hézuò
The two companies decided to collaborate. — 合作, with 作.
Honest difficulty: the 做/作 boundary is genuinely blurry, and even native writers disagree on a few items — 做出决定 and 作出决定 ("make a decision") are both in circulation. Don't expect a clean rule for every word; learn the frequent ones by sight.
Sense 5: 干 (gàn) and 搞 (gǎo) — the spoken alternatives
In casual speech, 干 (gàn) replaces 做 for "do / be up to / work at," and 干活儿 (gàn huór) is "do manual work." It's blunt and colloquial. 搞 (gǎo) is even more informal — "do / handle / mess with," often with a faintly negative or vague flavor.
你在干什么呢？
nǐ zài gàn shénme ne
What are you up to? (informal — blunter than 做什么)
这活儿太累，我不想干了。
zhè huór tài lèi, wǒ bù xiǎng gàn le
This work is exhausting — I don't want to do it anymore. (informal)
你到底想搞什么？
nǐ dàodǐ xiǎng gǎo shénme
What on earth are you trying to pull? (informal, slightly accusatory) — 搞 'be up to'.
Key collocations
| Phrase | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 做饭 | zuò fàn | cook (a meal) |
| 做菜 | zuò cài | make a dish, cook |
| 做作业 | zuò zuòyè | do homework |
| 做生意 | zuò shēngyi | do business |
| 做梦 | zuò mèng | to dream |
| 做决定 | zuò juédìng | make a decision |
| 做饭 → 做好 | zuò hǎo | get (it) done / ready |
| 工作 | gōngzuò | work (n. / v.) — spelled 作 |
| 作业 | zuòyè | homework — spelled 作 |
| 合作 | hézuò | cooperate — spelled 作 |
| 干活儿 | gàn huór | do manual work (informal) |
Grammar notes
做 takes aspect markers and complements freely: 做了 "did/made," 做过 "have done," and especially resultatives — 做完 "finish," 做好 "get done/ready," 做错 "do wrong." Many 做 + noun pairs are light-verb collocations: the noun (饭, 作业, 生意) supplies the meaning, exactly as with 打电话 or 打篮球 — so learn them as units, not by parsing 做. For the "make/produce a text" sense, the specialised verb is often 写 (xiě) 'write': you 写 a letter or an essay even though the object 作文 contains 作. Near-synonyms worth keeping apart: 弄 (nòng) "fiddle with / get" (弄坏 "break," 弄丢 "lose") and 搞 (gǎo) "handle / manage" overlap with 做 but lean informal and hands-on; 干 is the plain spoken "do."
Common Mistakes
1. Swapping 做/作 inside a fixed word. 工作 is spelled 作; 作业 is spelled 作 — you cannot write them with 做.
❌ 我在这家公司工做。
Wrong character — 工作 is always spelled with 作, not 做.
✅ 我在这家公司工作。
wǒ zài zhè jiā gōngsī gōngzuò
I work at this company.
2. Building "make a phone call" out of 做. "Make a call" is the fixed 打电话 (with 打), never 做电话.
❌ 我给他做了一个电话。
Wrong verb — 'make a call' is 打电话, not 做电话.
✅ 我给他打了个电话。
wǒ gěi tā dǎle ge diànhuà
I gave him a call.
3. Using 干 in polite or formal speech. 干 is casual and can sound rough; with a stranger or a client, use 做 or 工作.
❌ 您在哪儿干？
Too blunt for polite speech — 干 sounds rough here. Use 工作 / 做什么工作.
✅ 请问您做什么工作？
qǐngwèn nín zuò shénme gōngzuò
May I ask what you do for work? (polite)
4. Picking the wrong homophone: 坐 for 做. 做 (zuò, "do/make"), 坐 (zuò, "sit"), and 座 (zuò, "seat") all sound identical — a classic typing trap.
❌ 妈妈在坐饭。
Wrong character — 坐 means 'sit.' 'Cooking' is 做饭 with 做.
✅ 妈妈在做饭。
māma zài zuò fàn
Mom is cooking.
Key Takeaways
- 做 is the default "do / make / be-a-role": 做饭, 做作业, 做生意, 做老师.
- Many 做 + noun pairs are light-verb collocations (the noun carries the meaning) — memorise them whole.
- 作 is a written twin locked into fixed compounds — 工作, 作业, 作文, 合作 — where 做 is wrong; a few words (做出/作出) genuinely vary.
- 干 (gàn) is the blunt spoken "do" (干活儿); 搞 (gǎo) is very informal — avoid both in polite speech.
- Beware the homophones 做 / 坐 / 座 (all zuò): "do," "sit," "seat."
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- 写 (xiě) — to writeHSK 1 — 写 (xiě) is to write — put characters, letters, and text on the page (写字, 写信, 写作业) and to compose or author (写小说, 写歌). It wants an object or a result complement (写完, 写好, 写错, 写下来) — bare 写 sounds unfinished. Keep it apart from 画 (draw).