What Is ‘Makes’ in Spanish? | The Right Verb In Every Context

In Spanish, “makes” most often maps to forms of hacer, but the best choice changes with meaning: building, causing, earning, or producing.

“Makes” looks simple in English. Then you try to translate it, and Spanish pushes back. That’s normal. English leans on one workhorse verb for lots of ideas. Spanish splits those ideas across several verbs, each tied to a clearer meaning.

This article gives you a clean way to pick the right verb, fast. You’ll also get ready-to-steal sentence patterns, common traps, and a short checklist you can use while writing or speaking.

Why “Makes” Is Tricky To Translate

English uses “make(s)” for crafting (“She makes bread”), causing (“That makes me happy”), earning (“He makes $50k”), forcing (“Make him leave”), and even decisions (“Make a choice”). Spanish usually prefers a different verb for each idea.

So the real question isn’t “What’s the Spanish word for makes?” It’s “What does makes mean in this sentence?” Once you lock that down, the Spanish verb choice gets easy.

Start With A Two-Second Meaning Check

• Create or build something? Think hacer, preparar, fabricar, elaborar.
• Cause a feeling or result? Think hacer + adjective, or provocar, causar.
• Force someone to do something? Think hacer + infinitive.
• Earn money? Think ganar.
• Turn into / become? Think hacer(se), convertir(se).

What “Makes” Usually Is In Spanish

If you had to pick one default, it’s hacer. It covers “make” in the sense of doing, making, preparing, and causing in many everyday lines. The dictionary entry for hacer shows how wide its meaning range is, which explains why it appears so often in translations. RAE: “hacer”

Still, “default” isn’t “always.” Spanish gets more natural when you swap hacer out for a sharper verb in the right spots.

Hacer For Creating, Doing, Or Making In General

Use hacer when the focus is the action or the general act of making.

• She makes dinner. → Ella hace la cena.
• He makes a plan. → Él hace un plan.
• That makes a mess. → Eso hace un desastre.

Hacer For Causing A State Or Feeling

This pattern shows up constantly: hacer + direct object + adjective.

• That makes me happy. → Eso me hace feliz.
• The news makes them nervous. → La noticia los hace nerviosos.

Spanish also uses other verbs when you want a tighter “cause” sense, especially in more formal writing: causar and provocar. Choose them when you’d say “cause” naturally in English.

• It causes irritation. → Causa irritación.
• That provokes laughter. → Eso provoca risa.

Hacer For Forcing Someone To Do Something

When “make(s)” means “force” or “get someone to,” Spanish often uses hacer + infinitive:

• She makes him study. → Ella lo hace estudiar.
• This makes me think. → Esto me hace pensar.

Watch the structure: you’ll often need an object pronoun (me, te, lo, la, nos) between hacer and the second verb.

Taking “What Is ‘Makes’ in Spanish?” From Guessing To Choosing

If you’re learning, you’ll save time by grouping meanings instead of memorizing random translations. Here’s a broad map you can use while speaking, writing, or translating.

Making Food, Drinks, And Home Stuff

Spanish has several natural picks here. Use the one that matches what you mean.

• Hacer: general “make/do” in daily talk. Hace café.
• Preparar: “prepare,” often for meals or plans. Prepara la cena.
• Elaborar: “make/produce” with care or process (recipes, products, reports). Elabora pan artesanal.

Making Objects, Manufacturing, And Producing

When “makes” points to manufacturing, fabricar often sounds more exact than hacer. The dictionary entry for fabricar makes that manufacturing meaning plain. RAE: “fabricar”

• The company makes batteries. → La empresa fabrica baterías.
• They make furniture. → Fabrican muebles.
• He makes handmade knives. → Hace cuchillos a mano. (Here, handmade craft can fit hacer nicely.)

A quick gut check: if “manufacture” feels right in English, fabricar is a strong bet.

Making Money

When “makes” means “earns,” Spanish usually goes with ganar.

• She makes $20 an hour. → Ella gana 20 dólares por hora.
• He makes a lot of money. → Él gana mucho dinero.

If you mean “bring in” as revenue (a business), you may see generar in more formal contexts.

• The product makes $1M a year. → El producto genera un millón al año.

Making A Decision, Making A Call, Making A Choice

These are classic “collocations” in English. Spanish often uses noun+verb pairs that feel set.

• Make a decision. → Tomar una decisión.
• Make a choice. → Elegir / tomar una decisión.
• Make a mistake. → Cometer un error.
• Make progress. → Progresar / avanzar.

These may feel like extra work at first. They pay off fast, since they’re the lines people use.

Common Meanings Of “Makes” And The Best Spanish Match

Use This Table To Pick The Right Verb Fast

This is the “grab it and go” section. Find your meaning, then plug the verb into your sentence.

What “Makes” Means In English	Natural Spanish Verb	Quick Note
Create/do in general	hacer	Default for “make/do” in daily speech
Prepare food or arrangements	preparar	Often meals, plans, setups
Craft with a process (reports, recipes, goods)	elaborar	Feels “made with method”
Manufacture at scale	fabricar	Factory/production sense
Cause a feeling/result	hacer / causar / provocar	hacer + adj is common; others fit formal “cause”
Force someone to do something	hacer + infinitive	Needs object pronoun: me/te/lo/la/nos
Earn money	ganar	Salary, hourly pay, personal earnings
Make sense	tener sentido	Not hacer sentido in standard Spanish
Make friends	hacer amigos	Works well as-is

Two High-Value Patterns To Memorize

Pattern 1:hacer + person + adjective

• That makes me tired. → Eso me hace cansado.
• The noise makes her angry. → El ruido la hace enojada.

Pattern 2:hacer + person + infinitive

• They make us wait. → Nos hacen esperar.
• The teacher makes them read. → El profesor los hace leer.

Regional Notes And What Sounds Natural

Spanish is spoken across many countries, and people pick slightly different verbs in daily life. Still, the big choices stay steady: hacer for general making, ganar for earnings, fabricar for manufacturing.

One spot that trips up learners is “make sense.” You’ll hear tiene sentido across regions, and it’s a safe, standard choice. If you’ve seen hacer sentido, treat it as nonstandard in many settings, especially in writing that needs to sound polished.

When A Thesaurus Move Helps

If your English sentence leans on “make” because it’s convenient, Spanish might prefer a more exact verb. You don’t need to force it. You just want the sentence to sound like Spanish, not translated English.

• Make changes → cambiar / hacer cambios
• Make a note → anotar
• Make an effort → esforzarse / hacer un esfuerzo

Conjugation Help For “Hacer”: What “Makes” Looks Like

In the present tense, “he/she/it makes” maps to hace. It’s irregular in the first person (hago), and it changes in the preterite too.

If you’re double-checking a form mid-writing, a conjugation reference can save you from a small mistake that sticks out. Instituto Cervantes keeps a conjugation tool that’s handy for quick verification. Conjugation reference for “hacer”

If you want a definition-first view for meaning and usage, the official dictionary entry is the cleanest anchor. RAE dictionary entry for “hacer”

English	Hacer (Present)	Spanish Sentence
I make	hago	Hago pan los sábados.
You make	haces	Haces un buen trabajo.
He/She makes	hace	Ella hace la cena.
We make	hacemos	Hacemos planes para mañana.
They make	hacen	Hacen productos de madera.
“Makes” (earns)	gana	Gana 20 dólares por hora.
“Makes” (manufactures)	fabrica	La empresa fabrica baterías.

Common Mistakes Learners Make With “Makes”

Overusing Hacer For Money

“He makes $50k” is one of the clearest cases where Spanish prefers ganar. Hace 50 mil can sound off, or it can sound like “he does 50k” without the earnings meaning.

Translating “Make Sense” Word-For-Word

Stick with tener sentido. It reads clean and natural.

Forgetting The Object Pronoun In “Make Someone Do”

In hacer + infinitive, the “someone” matters. You usually need that pronoun.

• Wrong shape: Ella hace estudiar.
• Natural: Ella lo hace estudiar.

Using Fabricar When It’s A One-Off Craft

Fabricar points to production, often at scale. If you’re talking about baking cookies at home or building a birdhouse, hacer fits better.

A Mini Checklist You Can Use While Writing

Before you hit publish, run your sentence through this short check. It takes ten seconds and usually fixes the translation.

1. Ask: “Is this about doing, creating, causing, forcing, or earning?”
2. If it’s earning, switch to ganar.
3. If it’s manufacturing, try fabricar.
4. If it’s causing a feeling, use hacer + person + adjective.
5. If it’s forcing an action, use hacer + person + infinitive.
6. If “make” is just a filler verb in English, pick the Spanish verb that names the action (anotar, cambiar, progresar).

Sentence Pack: Ready-To-Use Translations With “Makes”

Here are common lines you can borrow. Swap nouns and pronouns as needed.

• This makes me laugh. → Esto me hace reír.
• That makes me sad. → Eso me pone triste. / Eso me hace sentir triste.
• She makes coffee every morning. → Ella hace café cada mañana.
• He makes a list. → Él hace una lista.
• The factory makes engines. → La fábrica fabrica motores.
• This job makes good money. → Este trabajo da buen dinero. / Con este trabajo se gana bien.
• That makes sense. → Eso tiene sentido.

If you want an official definition of fabricar to anchor that “manufacture” meaning in your head, the dictionary entry is short and clear. RAE dictionary entry for “fabricar”

If your “makes” sentence still feels slippery, try rewriting it in English without the word “make.” The verb you pick in English (“cause,” “earn,” “prepare,” “force”) often tells you the Spanish verb you want.