Make a mess meaning in English
Learn how to use Make a mess correctly with Gymglish.
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Definition
to make a mess: to cause a lack of tidiness or cleanliness, to create disorder or debris
a mess: an unclean or untidy area, a lack of order, a pile or arrangement of unordered objects
Examples
- "Your task is to clean the laboratory: The test monkeys have made a real mess playing with their feces (that's "poo poo" to you)."
- "Attention: Rumor has it that the monkeys have made a real mess."
Exercise 1
Fill in the blanks below with either 'to make' or 'to do'.
Remember to conjugate the verbs correctly
Mummy: Sarah have you your bed?
Sarah: No, but I've a big mess of my room!
Mummy: Oh Sarah! I've just the housework.
Sarah: Oh stop a fuss! I will go and clear it up.
Remember to conjugate the verbs correctly
Mummy: Sarah have you your bed?
Sarah: No, but I've a big mess of my room!
Mummy: Oh Sarah! I've just the housework.
Sarah: Oh stop a fuss! I will go and clear it up.
Fill in the blanks below with either 'to make' or 'to do'.
Remember to conjugate the verbs correctly
Mummy: Sarah have you made 1 your bed?
Sarah: No, but I've made 2 a big mess of my room!
Mummy: Oh Sarah! I've just done 3 the housework.
Sarah: Oh stop making 4 a fuss! I will go and clear it up.
Remember to conjugate the verbs correctly
Mummy: Sarah have you made 1 your bed?
Sarah: No, but I've made 2 a big mess of my room!
Mummy: Oh Sarah! I've just done 3 the housework.
Sarah: Oh stop making 4 a fuss! I will go and clear it up.
1 made: To 'make one's bed' is to tidy up or arrange one's bed. This construction is formed with the verb 'to make'. The present perfect tense (which uses the past participle form of the verb, 'made') is used because Sarah's mother doesn't know when exactly the bed was made, if it all.
2 made: To 'make a mess' is to bring disorder to an orderly place, or to make a clean place dirty. 'A mess' describes a disorderly or dirty person, place or thing. This construction requires the verb 'to make'. We use the present perfect tense (which uses the past participle form of the verb, 'made') because this action occurred at an unknown or unspecified point in the past.
3 done: In English, one 'does the housework'. We use the verb 'to do' to form this construction. 'To do the housework' is to clean up around the house: sweeping, vacuuming, dusting, etc. We use the present perfect tense here following the auxiliary construction 'I've' (I have). Using this tense suggests that Sarah's mother did the housework at an unspecified time in the past.
4 making: 'To make a fuss' is to cause a disturbance, a commotion or even to protest or object to something. For example: 'Every time we ask Sarah to clean her room she makes a fuss.' Sarah is telling her mother that she's overreacting to the disorder in her room. This construction is formed with the verb 'to make'. We use the progressive form of the verb 'to make' to describe the continuous action of Sarah's mother, who is in the process of 'making a fuss'. When used in the imperative voice, the command 'stop' is followed by the progressive form of another verb.
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