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Collocations

Do your best: meaning, examples and practice

“Do your best” means “try as hard as you can”. See why it takes do, not make, how my, your and their change, and check yourself in an exercise.

To do your best means to try as hard as you can, to do everything you are able to. Your changes with the person: I'll do my best, she did her best. It is often a promise that comes without a guarantee of success.

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do my/your/their best; do your best to + verb; try your best

  • I'm not sure I can finish the translation by Friday, but I'll do my best.
  • The whole team did their best to help the new manager settle in.

What changed

First versionI will make my best to pass the exam.

RevisionI will do my best to pass the exam.

Make and do can both mean carrying something out, which is why learners sometimes write make my best. But this expression only works with do. The rest of the sentence is correct: to pass the exam is in the right place.

Cambridge Dictionary

In the past tense, the phrase often prepares the listener for bad news: I did my best, but the shop was already closed. Make an effort is closer to “push yourself to do something”, especially when it doesn't come easily: He made an effort to be friendly.

Your turn

I can't promise we'll win the match, but we will all ___ our best.

(do / make)

Show the answer

do — This is a fixed expression: do our best. Make our best may seem logical, but native speakers don't say it.

Write to a colleague that you will take on an urgent task. Promise to do your best and be honest about what might get in the way.

I'll take the client report and do my best to finish it tonight, but the sales figures might arrive late.

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