I Can't Make It

 

Do you know what “I can’t make it” means in the following statement?

“I’m sorry but I can’t make it to your party on Saturday.” 

I can’t make it means “I can’t go.” It's a common expression to say that you are unable to attend a meeting, an appointment, a party, an event, etc. If you say "I think I won't come,” it changes the meaning greatly because it conveys that you don't want to come or you have decided not to come. 

I can make it means “I can go.” You are able to be present at a particular event.

Example: George will reschedule his appointment so he can make it to the meeting this afternoon. 

Try using I can make it and I can’t make it, and you’ll be speaking like a real native. 

Made of, made from, made with

How do you know which prepositions go with certain words? For example, “depend on” and “consist of” are fixed phrases. "On" always follows "depend"; "of" always follows "consist". Sometimes it's hard to remember these combinations.

Today’s post talks about make, meaning to manufacture, create or prepare. Make (past tense "made") requires three different prepositions (of, from, or with), depending on the process or materials used.

Use made of if you can identify the material used to make something (the material has not changed):

Ted’s new chair is made of oak wood.
The bride wore a wedding ring made of platinum.
The warmest sweaters are made of wool.


Use made from if the oroginal material has been changed into something completely different in the manufacturing process.

Paper is made from wood.
Wine is made from grapes.
Cheese is made from milk.


Last is made with, when there are multiple materials or ingredients used to produce something and we want to talk about one of them. (If something is made with one main material, use made from.)

Beer is made with yeast.
Nancy’s jam is made with the freshest apricots.
Lisa’s new computer is made with the fastest processor.


To sum up:
Made of = material has not changed
Made from = the material has been changed (we can’t see it anymore)
Made with = when a product is made using many elements and we describe one of them