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verb

take

/teɪk/

taketooktaken

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A word you can put to work

Build confidence with take.

Explore the patterns, test your choices, then use them in your own sentences.

9 useful uses11 practice questions9 activity cards
For learnersTest what you know Check answers and learn from each choice. For teachersPlan a practical lesson Ready-to-use cards, prompts and worksheets.

AI-assisted materials · Independent human review pending · Updated 26 October 2026

Verb forms and pronunciation

He / she / it
takes
Past simple
took
Past participle
taken
-ing form
taking

UK /teɪk/ · US /teɪk/

Headword IPA only; audio not supplied.

What you will practise

  • Identify nine selected uses from context.
  • Use take, took and taken with the correct auxiliary.
  • Explain the difference between taking and passing an exam.
  • Use a duration pattern and a natural word combination.

9 selected meanings and uses

1. Carry a person or object to another place.

take + person/thing + to + destination

  • Please take these worksheets to the staffroom.
  • Leila took her younger brother to the library.

Useful combinations: take someone home · take something with you

Bring usually describes movement towards the speaker or the chosen destination; take usually describes movement away. Perspective matters.

2. Require an amount of time.

It takes + person + time + to + verb

  • It took our group forty minutes to prepare the slides.
  • The walk takes twenty minutes.

Useful combinations: take time · take an hour

Use took for a finished past duration; taken follows have/has.

3. Move something away from where it was.

take + object + from + place

  • Someone took the poster from the noticeboard.
  • I took the wrong folder by mistake.

Useful combinations: take something from a shelf · take something by mistake

Taking an object does not always imply theft. Permission and intention come from the situation.

4. Agree to receive or accept something offered.

take + offer/job/payment

  • Sam was offered the evening shift and took it.
  • The small café does not take cards.

Useful combinations: take a job · take a payment

Accept can replace take in these examples. It cannot replace take in a transport or duration sentence.

5. Use a particular form of transport for a journey.

take + a/the + vehicle or service

  • We took the tram to the science museum.
  • You can take the number 18 bus from the square.

Useful combinations: take a taxi · take the train

I took the bus and I went by bus describe transport. By bus normally has no article; take the bus does.

6. Use a medicine, for example by swallowing it.

take + medicine/tablet

  • The nurse asked whether I had taken any tablets.
  • The form asks which medicines the patient takes.

Useful combinations: take medicine · take a tablet

In this context, take a tablet refers to using medicine, not collecting a prescription.

7. Perform an activity named by the following noun.

take + activity noun

  • Let's take a break before the final task.
  • The learners took notes during the demonstration.

Useful combinations: take notes · take a break · take a photograph · take a test

Learn the whole expression. Take notes, make a plan and do homework use different conventional verbs. Take an exam means sit it; pass means succeed.

8. Understand something in a particular way.

take + object + as + noun

  • I took her message as a polite refusal.
  • He took the silence as agreement, but nobody had actually agreed.

Useful combinations: take something as a compliment · take something the wrong way

This is an interpretation, which may be mistaken. Taking a concern seriously means treating it as important and is taught separately.

9. Treat a person, idea or concern as deserving attention.

take + person/thing + seriously

  • The school takes reports of bullying seriously.
  • We took her concerns seriously and arranged a meeting.

Useful combinations: take feedback seriously · take a concern seriously

Taking an idea seriously means giving it proper consideration; it does not necessarily mean agreeing with it.

Choose the right word or pattern

Take or bring?

Ask where the movement ends and whose viewpoint is used. Bring often points towards the speaker, listener or a destination adopted as the viewpoint; take often points away. Avoid treating physical direction as an absolute rule.

  • At home, before leaving: Take the library books with you.
  • A tutor waiting in the classroom: Bring your notebook to class.

Take or pass an exam?

Take says that a learner participates in the exam. Pass says that the learner succeeds.

  • Nora took the exam on Tuesday; results arrive next week.
  • Nora passed the exam and received her certificate.

Take time or take your time?

Something takes time when it requires time. Take your time can invite someone to proceed without rushing; in another tone it can criticise slowness.

  • Checking every citation takes time.
  • There is no deadline today. Take your time.

Common mistakes explained

Check this: It took me an hour finish.

Correction: It took me an hour to finish.

The action after the time expression uses a to-infinitive.

Check this: She has took the train.

Correction: She has taken the train.

Have/has takes the participle taken; took is past simple.

Check this: Did you took any notes?

Correction: Did you take any notes?

After did, use the base form take.

Check this: We took a homework break and then made our homework.

Correction: We took a homework break and then did our homework.

The conventional expression is do homework. A break takes take.

Check this: I took the exam, so that means I passed it.

Correction: I took the exam, but I do not know whether I passed.

Taking an exam means participating. It does not establish success.

Practise take: questions and explanations

Choose an answer, then check why it works. You can also open an explanation whenever you need help.

1Yesterday it ___ me ten minutes to log in.
Show answer and explanation

B. took

Yesterday sets a finished past time: took.

2Please ___ these books to the other classroom when you leave.
Show answer and explanation

A. take

An instruction begins with the base form take.

3In 'I took the wrong folder by mistake', what does took describe?
Show answer and explanation

B. Removing an object

The folder moved from its previous location; by mistake says it was accidental.

4A sign says 'Cash only'. The café does not take cards. Which statement fits?
Show answer and explanation

A. It accepts cash but not card payments.

Does not take cards rules out card payments; Cash only confirms that cash is accepted.

5Rewrite 'We went to the museum by tram' using took, without changing the transport.
Show answer and explanation

A. We took the tram to the museum.

Use take + the vehicle + destination: took the tram to the museum.

6During a discussion about medication, the nurse asks 'Have you taken any tablets today?' What is being checked?
Show answer and explanation

C. Whether the patient swallowed medicine in tablet form.

In this medication context, taken means used the tablets. Collecting, buying or receiving a prescription does not establish taking them.

7To record key points for your own revision during a lecture, you ___ notes.
Show answer and explanation

D. take

Take notes is the conventional expression for recording key information. Make up notes suggests inventing them.

8I took the comment as a joke. How did I understand it?
Show answer and explanation

C. As something humorous

As a joke describes the interpretation, not necessarily the speaker's intention.

9Choose the correct sentence about a completed journey relevant now.
Show answer and explanation

B. We have taken the train.

With the subject we, use have followed by the past participle taken.

10It takes Mira twenty minutes ___ the classroom.
Show answer and explanation

C. to prepare

This construction uses it takes + person + duration + to-infinitive.

11The tutor took my suggestion seriously, but decided against it. What can we conclude?
Show answer and explanation

B. The tutor considered it carefully without accepting it.

Taking a suggestion seriously means giving it attention. It does not require agreement.

Write and correct

Write your own response first. Model answers are examples; other natural answers may be correct.

Use the space below or your notebook. Your writing stays in this page; copy anything you want to keep.

  1. Model answer and marking guidance

    We have taken the train twice this week.

    Use taken after have.

    Accept: Require have taken; preserve the meaning.

  2. Model answer and marking guidance

    It took me fifteen minutes to check the equipment.

    It + took + person + duration + to-infinitive.

    Accept: Accept It took me fifteen minutes to check the equipment, or Checking the equipment took me fifteen minutes. Preserve took, the person, the duration and the action.

  3. Model answer and marking guidance

    The shop does not accept cash.

    Accept matches the payment meaning here.

    Accept: Require does not accept, or doesn't accept.

  4. Model answer and marking guidance

    I take notes when the tutor explains a new procedure.

    Use take notes with a meaningful situation.

    Accept: Open answer: check collocation and verb agreement; do not require the sample wording.

  5. Model answer and marking guidance

    Our class takes online privacy seriously.

    Seriously describes the way the subject treats the issue.

    Accept: Accept a natural tense or aspect with take + object + seriously, including takes, took, has taken or is taking. Check intended meaning.

Teacher activities and printable materials

Download the five-verb classroom pack (PDF)

The pack covers take, get, make, do and achieve. Student worksheets and teacher answer keys are separated. Select the pages you need before printing.

Lesson activity

Goal: Distinguish nine uses of take, including interpretation versus treating something as important; form take/took/taken accurately.

Cut out the nine supplied context cards. Sort them by use (5 minutes), justify answers from the context (4), use the supplied role cards for a travel dialogue (6), then complete the three exit checks (5). Keep the card key hidden until the sorting ends.

Assess meaning, form and word combination separately. The exit check uses transport, duration and interpretation; accept natural alternatives in free writing.

Context cards

Card A

Before leaving home, I took the library books with me.

Card B

It took the class twelve minutes to finish the puzzle.

Card C

I took the poster from the board so the wall could be painted.

Card D

The centre offered me a place on the course, and I took it.

Card E

We took a taxi because the last bus had already left.

Card F

The patient told the pharmacist that she had taken her prescribed tablet.

Card G

The visitors took photographs during the tour.

Card H

I took his smile as approval, although he said nothing.

Card I

The manager took our concerns seriously but disagreed with our proposal.

Teacher card key
  • A: Carry a person or object to another place.
  • B: Require an amount of time.
  • C: Move something away from where it was.
  • D: Agree to receive or accept something offered.
  • E: Use a particular form of transport for a journey.
  • F: Use a medicine, for example by swallowing it.
  • G: Perform an activity named by the following noun.
  • H: Understand something in a particular way.
  • I: Treat a person, idea or concern as deserving attention.

Partner task

Role A: You are organising a visit to a museum. Ask your partner which transport to use, how long the journey takes, and what materials to take.

Role B: Suggest transport, estimate a duration, and name two useful items. Then exchange roles and report yesterday's imagined trip using took.

  • Use take with transport and with an object to carry.
  • Use it takes + duration + to-infinitive.
  • Use took in the past report; keep the destination clear.

Exit checks

  1. Name a form of transport you used yesterday or invent one.

    Sample answer

    I took the bus to the sports centre.

  2. Explain how long a recent task took.

    Sample answer

    It took me half an hour to organise my notes.

  3. Use take with seriously.

    Sample answer

    We take feedback seriously.

References and scope

This guide covers selected uses, not every dictionary meaning. Reference excerpts were consulted for language facts; full-source verification and independent human review remain pending. Examples and activities were written for this guide.