'Do Laundry' or 'Do the Laundry': Which is Correct?

Are you curious about which one of these phrases is correct, 'do laundry’ or ‘do the laundry’? And which should you use? Well, we’ll talk about that in detail in this article. Plus, you’ll learn how to use the correct one in a sentence.

In short, the correct one is:

• Both ‘do laundry’ and ‘do the laundry’ are correct to say.
• Feel free to use either phrase in your everyday writing, as they both mean the same thing.

‘Do Laundry’ or ‘Do the Laundry’: Which is Correct?

As you just learned, both phrases are correct to use. Sometimes, people simply drop the word ‘the’ in the phrase.

However, this doesn’t change the meaning of the phrase.

It still means the same thing – to clean or wash your clothes.

Do the Laundry or Make the Laundry?

In English, it’s okay to say:

'Do the laundry"

But what about:

‘Make the laundry’?

If you’ve never heard it, there’s a reason for that. It’s completely incorrect to say. So avoid using it in your writing.

You might see it online, but avoid using it yourself if you want to exercise proper grammar.

Definition and Meaning of ‘Do Laundry’ and ‘Do the Laundry’

According to Merriam-Webster, the definition of ‘laundry’ is:

• A room for doing the family wash or a commercial laundering establishment.
• It can also mean clothes or linens that have been or are about to be laundered (or cleaned in some way).

So, we can assume that these phrases refer to the act of doing that.

Pronunciation: How to Pronounce ‘Do Laundry’ and ‘Do the Laundry’

How do you pronounce these phrases? Here’s a quick guide.

To pronounce these phrases correctly, here’s the phonetic spelling:

doo-thuh-LAWN-dree

How to Use ‘Do Laundry’ and ‘Do the Laundry’ in a Sentence

Now that we’ve got the definition and pronunciation out of the way, let’s see some sentence examples.

• When you do the laundry, make sure you separate the clothes by color so that your clothes don’t get ruined.
• Every Sunday, I make sure to do the laundry for the week. I hate when clothes pile up too much.
• You chose to wait until you had no clothes left to do laundry. That’s your problem, not mine.
• I have to do the laundry this weekend. I’m wearing my bathing suit bottoms right now.
• A European man asked me if he could do my laundry while I was on vacation. It was super creepy.

Final Advice on ‘Do Laundry’ and ‘Do the Laundry’

To recap, we learned the following:

• Both phrases - ‘do laundry’ and ‘do the laundry’ - are okay to say or use in your writing.
• Don’t be afraid to use either phrase in your everyday writing because they both mean the same thing.

If you ever get stuck on anything, you can always come back and review what you learned. We’ve got a ton of content on confusing words and phrases you might see in the English language as you’re learning it. Feel free to go check it out anytime.