to make it
311
3.4
- phrasal verb
- /meɪk ɪt/
- Informal
:
sobrevivir
- Some people stop, some people never make it off the ground floor.
If you're wondering how I've made it through my life this far.
- If you're wondering how I've made it through my life this far.
- What mattered was that a black man had made it against huge odds.
- Doctors didn't know if he would make it out, and he, thank God did.
- But I think once you make it through the one year mark, Yeah.
Examples
-
And you got to make it right.
-
After losing everything in the storm, she was relieved to finally make it through the difficult times.
-
Everything you ever thought you would not make it through, you got past it.
-
But most people never make it past three.
-
I think I can make it.
-
We made it to the end!
-
Forty percent of Chinese students will make it to one of these universities.
Academic text (2004) -
I think some people make it because they don't give up.
-
But it's not often that visitors make it past the showroom floor.
-
They said he wouldn't make it, but he always knew he could.
Synonyms
∞
3.2
To do something difficult, often with little help
∞
2.7
Continue to exist after a dangerous or difficult event
332
2.8
To reach a place or goal after overcoming problems
304
3.5
To deal with something difficult for a long time without giving up
272
2.9
To deal with problems and difficult situations
218
3.4
To get through a hard time and be okay
53
3.9
To survive a serious illness or danger, often with help from others, and start to get better
22
5.1
Keep trying to do something even when it is hard
11
5.2
To survive a difficult time by dealing with problems
1
6.2
To succeed or survive despite big problems that make success unlikely
Manage to get through a difficult situation
To survive a difficult time or problem
To keep trying and do well despite difficult times
Antonyms
How Well
241
3.2
748
2.5
- Informal
311
3.4
53
3.9
∞
2.7
173
3.3
Surface Forms
Morphology
make + it
The success sense of 'make it' cannot be directly computed from the literal meanings of 'make' and the pronoun 'it' because 'it' is a non-referential/dummy element and the sense is an idiomatic extension of 'make' (to achieve/reach). Cross-linguistic parallels (e.g., Spanish 'lograrlo', French 'y arriver') make the pattern somewhat guessable from context, but the specific success meaning is not fully predictable for a B1 learner without prior exposure.
Etymology
The phrasal verb make it may come from the image of getting through danger to safety, like a boat that finally reaches shore after a storm. Think of make as 'get' and it as 'to safety'. If you make it to safety, you 'survive', so the phrase means 'to survive'.