«Take» is one of the most commonly used verbs in the English language, which is largely due to the fact that there are numerous collocations with the word «take». The following is a thorough collection of English collocations that contain the verb take. Don’t forget to scroll down and download this list of collocations with TAKE as a PDF at the bottom of the page.
take (it in) turns
You can take it in turns to play, so there’s no need to fight.
take (sb. for) a walk
I took Blackie for a walk before lunch.
take (sb.’s) advice
I never took my parents’ advice when I was younger, but I do now.
take (sb.) a long time
It took me a long time to realise what was happening.
take (sb.) a while/ a minute/ five minutes
It will take me a while to get used to his mood.
take (your/the) time
Don’t worry about the deadline. You can take your time.
take a (phone) call
John’s secretary normally takes his calls.
take a bath/shower
Andy really needs to take a bath after doing so much exercise.
take a bite
Take a bite of the sandwich. I promise you’ll love it!
take a bow
The pianist took a bow while the audience applauded.
take a break
Okay, let’s take a break and resume in 30 minutes.
take a chance
Rupert was prepared to take a chance and lend him some money.
take a class/lesson
I took a yoga class when I was younger, but it wasn’t my cup of tea.
take a course
I’m thinking about taking a course on web design.
take a hike
They took a hike in the mountains and came back exhausted.
take a holiday/vacation
Mary needed to take a holiday. She’d been working for 5 months non-stop.
take a look
Rick, could you take a look at this report, please?
take a message
Hi. John’s not in today, but I can take a message.
take a minute / X minutes
Why don’t you take a minute to relax and think about it?
take a nap
Our dog loves to take a nap after we go for a walk.
take a plane/flight/bus/train
I’m taking a flight tomorrow to Hong Kong.
take a raincheck
I’m going to have to take a raincheck. We’ll meet up tomorrow, shall we?
take a rest
Harry needed to take a rest after such an intense morning.
take a risk/risks
Are you the sort of person who takes risks?
take a seat
Please, come in and take a seat.
take a step
He took a step toward me and kissed me.
take a survey
All candidates need to take a survey before the interview.
take a taxi
Shall we just take a taxi to the airport? It’s the easiest thing.
take a test/an exam
All students take a placement test when they join the school.
take a trip
We’re taking a trip to the lake this afternoon.
take a/sb.’s number
Sir, can I take your number and call you back later?
take a/sb.’s photo/picture
Excuse me, could you take a picture of us standing next to the statue?
take a/the bus/train/subway
You can take a bus to get to the city centre.
take a/the decision
The president took the decision to withdraw all soldiers from the country.
take action
We need to take action before somebody else makes an offer for the house.
take advantage (of sb./sth.)
Richard used to take advantage of his colleagues until he got fired.
take ages
It will take ages for the country to recover from the war.
take care (of sb.)
Okay, take care of yourself. I’ll see you next week!
take charge (of sth.)
Ron took charge of the family business when his dad passed away.
take cover
The soldiers took cover in the nearest trench.
take drugs
Many youngsters take drugs without realising the possible consequences.
take effect
The medicine will take effect after a couple of hours.
take exercise
Bill decided to take some exercise in the afternoons to lose some weight.
take heart
Mary took heart from all the support she received from her friends.
take medicine
Rose normally prefers not to take any medicine when she gets sick.
take notes
Percy was quite good at taking notes during lectures.
take notice
You guys didn’t take any notice when I warned you about the weather, did you?
take one’s breath away
Their performance took my breath away. It was absolutely fantastic!
take part (in sth.)
Most of the students didn’t feel like taking part in the competition.
take place
When will the conference take place?
take pride (in sth.)
Her parents always took pride in her achievements.
take responsibility
Marcus needs to take responsibility for his recent failures.
take sb. to court
They got a divorce and she took him to court to get the children’s custody.
take sb.’s place
She eventually took Joey’s place in the band.
take sb.’s temperature
I think Georgie’s got a fever. I’m going to take his temperature.
take sth. apart
What’s wrong with the pram now? I’ll take it apart and check it when we get home.
take sth. to heart
I didn’t know she would take my comment to heart. I’ll have to apologise.
take sth./sb. seriously
I didn’t take him seriously when he said he’d be quitting his job.
take the lead
She took the lead of the meeting and everything ran smoothly.
take time off
Elisabeth took some time off work to focus on her personal life.
take up (space)
I’m sorry, but your clothes take up all the wardrobe!
Check this out: Collocations with MAKE
Download a list of collocations with take (PDF)
Don’t forget to keep smiling! 🙂
