Make Do or Make Due: Which One Is Correct?

No new laptop this year, so you’ll have to “Make Do or Make Due: Which One Is Correct?”, the answer is make do. The phrase means to manage or get by with what you have, and make due is a common malapropism (a similar-sounding word swapped in by mistake).

It sounds right because due is a familiar word, but it doesn’t mean what people think it means here. This guide covers the meaning, the history, and the hyphenated form that confuses everyone. Find more plain-English language guides on the KnowsVista homepage.

Below you’ll learn when to use make do, why make due is wrong, the tricky exceptions, a quick practice quiz, and answers to the most common questions.

⚡ Quick answer

When to use make do

Use make do whenever someone copes, adapts, or manages despite limited resources. It pairs with with: make do with what you have. The past tense is made do.

The phrase has been used since the early 19th century, Charlotte Brontë wrote “we must make it do” in Jane Eyre (1847), and it became a way of life during wartime and the Great Depression.

• We don’t have enough chairs, so we’ll make do with benches.
• My laptop broke, but I can make do with my tablet for now.
• She didn’t have the perfect outfit, so she made do with what was in her closet.
• Farmers during the Great Depression had to make do with very little.

Why “make due” is wrong

Never write make due in modern English. It is a malapropism: due sounds like do, so people swap it in without noticing the meaning breaks. Due means “owed” (“the rent is due”) or “expected at a certain time” (“the report is due tomorrow”), neither sense fits “managing with what you have.” Dictionaries and style guides mark make due as incorrect.

For another sound-alike trap, see per se or per say.

• ❌ We had to make due with the supplies we had. → ✅ We had to make do with the supplies we had.
• ❌ Make due with what you’ve got. → ✅ Make do with what you’ve got.
• ❌ They made due without a car. → ✅ They made do without a car.
• ❌ We’ll just have to make due. → ✅ We’ll just have to make do.

The tricky exceptions

The hyphenated form: make-do

Add a hyphen and the phrase becomes an adjective or a noun: a make-do repair (a repair that makes do), a make-do solution. As a noun it can even take a plural: the make-dos are working.

The hyphen is what turns the verb phrase into a describing word, the same forms are listed in Mr. Greg’s guide to make due vs make do. Never hyphenate the verb form: “we’ll make-do with benches” is wrong.

• Verb (no hyphen): “We’ll make do with benches.”
• Adjective (hyphen): “a make-do repair,” “a make-do solution”
• Noun (hyphen): “The make-dos are holding up fine.”
• Never: “we’ll make-do with benches” (verb with a hyphen)

The history: “make due” in old books

You may spot make due in books written before the mid-20th century. It was a recognized variant until about the 1940s, and it still appears in some reprinted older texts. That doesn’t make it correct today, modern dictionaries list only make do.

Think of it like thee and thou: real words once, wrong now. When quoting an old source, keep the original spelling; in your own writing, always use make do.

• 1847: Charlotte Brontë writes “we must make it do” in Jane Eyre
• 1916: Kipling writes of “improvisations and ‘make-do’s‘”
• Until ~1940s: make due still seen as a variant in print
• Today: only make do is standard (compare bad rap or bad rep, old variants fade, standards stay)

“Make Do or Make Due: Which One Is Correct?”, at a glance

Quick practice

Choose make do or make due:

1. We don’t have a projector, so we’ll ________ with the whiteboard.
2. Which is correct in a work email: “make do” or “________”?
3. They ________ without heating all winter. (past tense)
4. It was only a ________ repair, but it held for months. (adjective)
5. “________ with what you have” is the full form of the advice.

Answer key:

• 1. make do (manage with what you have)
• 2. “make do” (make due is the malapropism)
• 3. made do (past tense, made due is wrong)
• 4. make-do (hyphenated adjective before the noun)
• 5. “Make do” (capital M at the start of the sentence)

Frequently Asked Questions

Is “make due” ever correct?

Not in modern English. Make due appeared as a variant in books before the mid-20th century, but today’s dictionaries recognize only make do. In your own writing, always use make do.

What does “make do” mean?

Make do means to manage or get by with limited resources, to cope with what you have instead of what you want. It usually pairs with with: “We’ll make do with what we have.”

What is the past tense of “make do”?

Made do: “She made do with a borrowed laptop.” The past tense follows the same rule as the present, made due is just as wrong as make due.

Is it “make-do” with a hyphen?

Only as an adjective or noun: a make-do repair, the make-dos are working. The verb phrase is never hyphenated: “We’ll make do with benches.” For another hyphen question, see nevermind or never mind.

Final thoughts

So, “Make Do or Make Due: Which One Is Correct?”, the answer is make do, every time. You do the best with what you have; due is for deadlines and debts.

Remember the hyphenated make-do for adjectives (“a make-do fix”), the past tense made do, and the history lesson: old variants fade, but the standard stays. One phrase learned, one malapropism retired.