Take

Takecan mean ‘remove without permission’:

Four valuable paintingswere takenin the burglary and some of my mother’s gold jewellery.(The paintings were stolen.)

Takecan mean ‘accept’:

Does the restauranttakecredit cards?

We can usetaketo mean ‘have’ when we talk about things we add to our food:

Itaketwo sugars in my coffee but none in my tea.

We usetaketo talk about time and duration:

Ittakesless than two hours to get to Rome from here.

Ittookus a week to paint the house.

We usetakein a lot of phrases, especially with nouns. In these cases, the meaning oftakedepends on the noun:

1. take advantage(of something)

2. take (someone’s) advice(about something)

3. take care(of something)

4. take charge(of something)

5. take an interest(in something)

6. take notice(of something)

7. take ownership(of something)

8. take part(in something)

9. take responsibility(for something)

10. take time(to do something)

The concerttookplacein a 17th-century church.

Twelve hours later the medicinetook effectand she felt much better.

We usetakewith different particles:

Steve reallytook toSan Francisco.(= liked)

I think I shalltake upjogging in the mornings.(= begin jogging)

The plane didn’ttake offuntil five o’clock.(= didn’t leave the ground)

A good learner’s dictionary will provide a full list of phrases withtakeand the particles used withit.