Lack or Waste?

To Lack - to be without; not have; have less than enough of
He lacks courage.

To Waste - to use without a good purpose or result; spend extravagantly or uselessly
Don't waste your energy.

Lose or Miss?

To Lose
a) to have no longer, to have taken away from one (by accident, misfortune, carelessness, separation, death, etc)
He lost all his money at that card game.

b) to become unable to find
I've lost my new gold pen.


To Miss
a) to fail to hold, catch or reach
He tried to catch the ball but missed it.

b) to fail to get, hear, see, notice or understand
I missed the first part of the speech.

c) to be too late for, falis to get, catch, meet, etc
I got up very late yesterday and missed the 7 o'clock bus.

d) to feel regret at the absence of
She'd miss her husband if the died.

Make or Do?

Many languages have only one verb for do and make, but in English these two verbs are found in a number of more or less fixed expressions.

Basic Meanings

Make - to create or cause to exist by combining parts or by giving form to some material.
We make paper into many things.

Some expressions:
- to make a dress / cake / sandwich
- to make bread / dinner / breakfast / lunch
- to make a fire / a camp / a mistake
- to make the beds / a journey / a sound / a noise
- to make something from something
- to make something out of something
- to make somebody do something


Do - to perform an action, to act in general
He does what he likes to do.

Some expressions:
- to do a test / an exam / an exercise / a composition
- to do a sum / a course / algebra/one's lesson / the homework
- to do a puzzle / one's duty
- to do something to somebody
- to do good to somebody
- to do one's best
- to do with/without something

The Present Progressive Tense

Uses:
1. Actions happening ate the moment of speaking;
The students are listening to the teacher now.

2. Futurity;
I am flying to Paris tomorrow.
He is going home next week.

3. Temporary habit;
He is dieting this summer.

4. With 'always' for a frequently repeated action;
Tom is always going away for weekends.

5. Common adverbs used with this tense:
- now
- at present
- at this moment
- still

Special Notes
The are a number of common verbs wich do not often use in the Progressive Tense when we are describing an action at the moment of speaking. These verbs are generally used in the Present Simple Tense because they describe which cannot be stopped or started at will.
These are the principal verbs of this type:
- Verbs of the sense: see, hear, smell, notice, recognize, feel, taste
- Verbs of emotion: want, desire, refuse, forgive, wish, need, hate, love, like
- Verbs of mental processes: think (opinion), believe, understand, know, mean, suppose, remember, mind
- Verbs of possession: own, owe, belong
- Seem, appear (=seem), contain, consist

I believe he is telling the truth
I understand what you are saying

The Present Simple Tense

Uses:

1. Habits;

I get up at 7 o'clock every day.

2. Natural laws;

The sun rises in the morning. (permanent truths)

3. In time clauses (those introduced by conjunctions such as: when, as soon as, until, before, after, the moment that, now that, by the time that);

When she arrives, I will call him up.

4. Describing activities, planned beforehand (principally travel) in the future and according to a fixed timetable with the verbs of going and coming, such as: go, come, leave, arrive, get, return, embark, take off, sail, fly.

The 'Queen Mary' sails next Monday.

Special Notes

Common adverbs are associated with the Present Simple (always, often, sometimes, usually, generally, seldom, frequently, whenever); and adverbial phrases such as: every day (week, etc), once, twice, a week (month, etc).

She often sings in her bath.

He visits his relatives whenever he can.

They go to the movies twice a week.