Make a difference

Make a difference

There are two ways to use “make a difference”: first, when an action has a positive impact on the world, and second, when an action has a noticeable effect. A positive impact on the world, or simply a noticeable effect. Those are your two ways to use “make a difference.” And later in the lesson, we’ll cover a few variations, like “make a real difference” and “make no difference.”

To have a positive impact

The first way to use “make a difference” is to say that someone or something has a positive impact on others or on the world. This is often used with people or organizations that contribute to social or charitable causes, but it doesn’t have to be that way.

Let’s start with an easy example. A local food pantry can make a difference by providing meals to people in need. The organization has a positive impact on the world, so we say, “The food pantry is making a difference.” A positive impact on the world means, it’s making the world a better place. You can say the same thing about the people who volunteer there. The volunteers who pack and serve food are making a difference by supporting their communities.

This is “make a difference” in the charitable sense, about people doing good, people having a positive impact on the world.

But even if you’re not volunteering for a charity, you can still make a difference in your job. If you positively affect other people, you’re making a difference. For instance, a surgeon at a hospital makes a difference by saving lives and improving health. That’s easy to see.

But a person who collects trash also makes a difference. That person keeps neighborhoods clean and safe. That person helps prevent disease and keep people healthy. Okay, it’s not exactly the same as being a surgeon. But people in both jobs make a difference. They have a positive impact on the world.

So this is “make a difference” in the sense of having a positive impact, a positive effect on the world.

To have a noticeable effect

But “make a difference” doesn’t always mean having a positive effect. We can also use this expression if something has a noticeable effect, big, small, good, or neutral. We usually don’t say “make a difference” with something bad. But with this definition, what’s important is not that a change is good. What’s important is that you notice the change, you notice that something is different or that something has happened.

Imagine the owner of a business wants to save money on utility bills. The business has a warehouse and the lights are on for most of the day. The parking lot lights are on all night long for safety. The business owner might decide to switch all the light bulbs to LED bulbs, energy efficient light bulbs, as the old ones burn out.

What happens? The business owner notices the electric bills are lower after replacing some of the light bulbs. The action had an impact. So we can say, “Installing LED bulbs made a difference.” It had an effect; you can see it. It’s noticeable. Yes, it’s good, but in this case, the important thing is that it had some kind of effect. The new bulbs made a difference: you can see the effect in the electric bills.

Imagine you have a friend who has been feeling a little sluggish lately. She wants to boost her energy levels, so she makes a change to her diet. She used to have a muffin for breakfast, but now she has a green smoothie in the morning. After a few weeks, she notices she has more energy and feels more alert. The change to her diet has made a difference. She has noticed a change. It’s a good change. But the important thing is, the change was noticeable. Her new breakfast made a difference.

Make a real difference

So now that you know all about how to use “make a difference,” let’s talk about some common variations to this expression.

And we’ll start with “make a real difference”. You would say, “make a real difference” if you want to say that an action has a strong, positive impact. It’s very good, very positive, very good for the world. For instance, if someone volunteers regularly at an animal shelter, you might say, “His dedication makes a real difference in the lives of the animals.” This emphasizes that his work produced a meaningful, lasting effect in the world. You can also say his efforts make a big difference.

Make all the difference in the world

You can step things up, too, and say something had a fundamental or very, very big impact. And for that, you can say “make all the difference in the world.” If you say this, you’re saying that one action or choice or person has had a huge positive impact.

Picture a student who is struggling in school. Imagine that a teacher spends extra time helping her. The student might later say, “The teacher’s support made all the difference in the world.” This means, the teacher’s help turned things around for her in a powerful way. The teacher’s help had a very, very big positive effect on this student.

Or, imagine you’re having trouble sleeping because of noise from the street. But then you get soundproofing in your house, so your bedroom is gloriously quiet at night. Now, you sleep like a baby. You can say, “The soundproofing made all the difference in the world.” It had a huge impact.

Make no (or not much) difference

Now, here’s the opposite. You can say something “makes no difference” or “does not make a difference.” If you say this, you mean that something doesn’t have any effect on the world.

Do you use delivery apps? Where you live, there might be two or three different apps that all have the same restaurants, the same fees, and probably the same delivery drivers. So does it matter which one you use?

I can order from Rappi or Uber Eats—it makes no difference which one I choose. That means, my choice doesn’t matter. Pick Rappi; pick Uber Eats. It doesn’t matter. It makes no difference which one I choose. They are pretty much the same.

You can also say something “makes absolutely no difference” or that it “makes no difference whatsoever.” This is a way of making your statement stronger. Should you buy your movie tickets online or at the theater? If it’s not a popular movie, it makes absolutely no difference. There won’t be many people there. You’ll get the seats you want if you buy them online or if you buy them at the theater. It makes no difference whatsoever.

Now finally, you can say something “won’t make much difference” if an action will have only a small impact. If you’re preparing a recipe and it calls for whole milk, but you only have low fat milk available, you might say, “Using low fat milk instead of whole milk won’t make much difference.” That means, sure, maybe the change will have some effect. But it won’t have a big effect on the recipe. It won’t make much difference.

So, now you’re ready to use “make a difference” with confidence. Remember, “make a difference” can mean to have a positive impact, especially in charitable or social causes, or it can simply mean to have a noticeable effect.

There are also some useful variations, like “make a real difference” to highlight a meaningful impact, and “make no difference” or “won’t make much difference” to show when something has little or no effect.