Turn or Make a Turn?
2022-02-19
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1Hello! This week on Ask a Teacher, we answer a question from Orlando in Brazil. He writes,
2Could you please tell me the difference between these phrases when talking about directions?
3We can turn left to go there.
4We can make left to go there.
5Which one is considered correct?
6Thanks.
7Orlando, Brazil.
8Dear Orlando,
9Thank you for writing to us.
10Please note that the word "left" serves as two different parts of speech in these two sentences.
11In the first one, "left" is an adverb.
12It shows the direction of a turn.
13Here is a similar example:
14At the next intersection, I turned left and then right onto Main Street.
15In that statement, both "left" and "right" show a movement in a certain direction.
16They are both adverbs, which means they affect the meaning of a verb.
17A person or a vehicle can turn, as we have in this example,
18The car ran the stop right there, and it turned left.
19But we would not talk about a vehicle "making a turn." Generally speaking, only people can "make a turn."
20Your second statement is missing an important word, the determiner "a." It should be:
21We can make a left to go there.
22It also leaves out a word that a listener understands but is not said, "turn."
23We can make a left [turn] to go there.
24When we give directions with the word "make" we have to use "a" because here, "left" serves as an adjective. It modifies the noun "turn."
25Here are other examples from the Corpus of Contemporary American English, or COCA:
26He made a left turn on a red light. Horns protested.
27Officials said the driver in front was waiting to make a left turn.
28In looking at the results in COCA, I found that "to make a turn" is much less common than simply using the verb "turn."
29Some writers think it is a North American way of speaking.
30There is one more way to give directions. You can ask someone to "take a turn."
31Take the second right turn after the bank.
32What question do you have about American English? Send us an email at learningenglish@voanews.com
33And that's Ask a Teacher.
34I'm Jill Robbins.
1Hello! This week on Ask a Teacher, we answer a question from Orlando in Brazil. He writes, 2Question: 3Could you please tell me the difference between these phrases when talking about directions? 4We can turn left to go there. 5[and] 6We can make left to go there. 7Which one is considered correct? 8Thanks. 9Orlando, Brazil. 10Answer: 11Dear Orlando, 12Thank you for writing to us. Please note that the word "left" serves as two different parts of speech in these two sentences. In the first one, "left" is an adverb. It shows the direction of a turn. Here is a similar example: 13At the next intersection, I turned left and then right onto Main Street. 14In that statement, both "left" and "right" show a movement in a certain direction. They are both adverbs, which means they affect the meaning of a verb. A person or a vehicle can turn, as we have in this example, 15The car ran the stop right there, and it turned left. 16But we would not talk about a vehicle "making a turn." Generally speaking, only people can "make a turn." 17Make a turn 18Your second statement is missing an important word, the determiner "a." It should be: 19We can make a left to go there. 20It also leaves out a word that a listener understands but is not said, "turn." 21We can make a left [turn] to go there. 22When we give directions with the word "make" we have to use "a" because here, "left" serves as an adjective. It modifies the noun "turn." Here are other examples from the Corpus of Contemporary American English, or COCA: 23He made a left turn on a red light. Horns protested. 24Officials said the driver in front was waiting to make a left turn. 25In looking at the results in COCA, I found that "to make a turn" is much less common than simply using the verb "turn." Some writers think it is a North American way of speaking. 26Take a turn 27There is one more way to give directions. You can ask someone to "take a turn." 28Take the second right turn after the bank. 29What question do you have about American English? Send us an email at learningenglish@voanews.com 30And that's Ask a Teacher. 31I'm Jill Robbins. 32Dr. Jill Robbins wrote this lesson for VOA Learning English. 33____________________________________________________________ 34Words in This Story 35sentence - n. a group of words that expresses a statement, question, command, or wish 36intersection - n. the place or point where two or more things come together 37modify -v. (grammar) to limit or describe the meaning of (a word or group of words) 38Do you have a question for the teacher? We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments Section.