264. Variations in the Use of TAKE

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The verb TAKE is exceptionally varied in its meanings and grammatical possibilities

THE POSSIBILITIES OF take

Small common verbs in any language are likely to have multiple meanings and uses ranging from very elementary to specialised. This is certainly true of the English verb TAKE, being evidenced by the exceptionally large amount of space that its explanation usually occupies in dictionaries.

One result of such variability is that, although TAKE is likely to be very familiar to people who speak English as a secondary language, it can still cause enough surprises to be worthy of study at the higher level that this blog deals with. Dictionaries are able to offer some help here too, but they are very constrained for space, so that they can leave their user wishing for further explanation and/or examples. It is this wish for a deeper analysis that I aim to address here.

TAKE is not the only small common verb to be analysed in detail in a dedicated post within these pages. The others are HAVE, MAKE, GO, DO, GIVE and COME.

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take WITH JUST AN OBJECT

The active voice of TAKE usually needs a following noun (or equivalent) acting as its “object” – in other words, TAKE is a “transitive” verb (see 8 Object-Dropping Errors). The object is often fairly predictable (see 273. Verb-Object Collocations). Some TAKE meanings need the object by itself, while others need more. The first group include the following:

1. Purposefully Acquire or Adopt

With people or concrete things as object, TAKE in this sense tends to express an unfriendly action. With people objects, the acquisition is often forceful, suggesting kidnap, hostage-taking or imprisonment. With things, the acquisition tends to be a dishonest type, suggesting theft or selfishness.

With abstract objects, on the other hand, TAKE tends to have a more neutral meaning. Common objects include a copy, notes, ownership, a photograph, a position (= a stance), a stance and a view (= opinion). Note the following differences:

take a copy = photocopy
make a copy = construct a replica
take notes = write notes from something listened to
make notes = write notes from something written, or for a future talk

The reason why *make a photograph is incorrect is that photographs are not usually constructed without a camera in the way that some other types of copy can be.

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2. Select and Remove

An example of this use is:

(a) Subjects had to take two balls from a box of 30.

The ideas of selection and removal are both present here. Removal may or may not result in possession.

A common object type with this meaning is food, whether in supermarkets (e.g. off a shelf or out of a freezer) or buffet meals (e.g. taking a cake from a tray). Also common are abstract objects like an example or a topic.

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3. Grasp

The idea here is of putting something into the hand(s) without actually becoming its owner. This happens when, for example, someone takes a person’s arm to help them, or takes a ticket when entering a car park, or takes their coat to depart. Figurative usage is also possible, as in take offence, take the initiative and take the bull by the horns (see 241. Some Common Figurative Phrases).

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4. Indulge in

Objects with this meaning are experiences of a generally desirable nature, such as exercise, a holiday, a look, a rest, a shower and a walk. The nouns are typically spelt the same as their related verbs.

Unfortunately, there are many such nouns, e.g. a think, that typically follow HAVE with the same meaning instead of TAKE, and even those usable with TAKE may also allow HAVE (see underlining above and also 116. Rarer Uses of HAVE, #6). Obviously, if uncertainty arises about the usability of TAKE, using HAVE instead will probably prove successful.

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5. Consume

Typical objects here are medicines (e.g. an aspirin), drinks (e.g. a coffee, lemonade) and snacks or meals (e.g. lunch, a sandwich, some soup). Except with medicines, HAVE is again usable instead – indeed is more common in some modern English varieties. With small food items, such as an apple or a chocolate, HAVE is the norm: TAKE would mean “steal”, “select and remove” or “accept”.

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6. Require

Here, the subject of TAKE is normally a target or achievement, the object something it depends on.

(b) Research degrees take great effort.

A quantifying expression like great seems common before the object. Other typical objects are courage, hard work, money and time. The fixed phrase takes some doing means “is very hard to do” (see 256. Unusual Meanings of Familiar Words, #1).

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7. Last

This meaning resembles #6, but needs an exact time period as object, such as a long time or 2 days (see 258. Saying How Long Something Lasts, #5).

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8. Use for Travel

A transport means or journey type is usually the object here: a bus, a plane, a short cut, a train, a path etc. Note the fixed figurative expression take the easy way out (= choose the least troublesome option).

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9. Suffer

The object of TAKE here is a cause of pain, e.g. a blow, criticism, or punishment (see 21. Active Verbs with Non-Active Meaning, 4^th section). It is usually an accepted risk within a particular activity. For example, take a blow and take punishment are common within sport, while film makers often take criticism. 

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10. Accept

Accepting is agreeing to have something offered or available. TAKE with this meaning often combines with cash, a job, an offer or an opportunity. Note also the fixed take it or leave it.

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11. Perform

Here, TAKE and a noun made from another verb correspond to that verb alone. For example, take a decision resembles DECIDE. TAKE is one of many verbs with this use (see 173. “Do Research” or “Make Research”?). It is preferred with specific object nouns, other common ones being action, aim, care, control, flight, heed, hold, a measurement, note, possession, receipt, a risk and a step.

Sometimes, another verb replaces TAKE (e.g. MAKE a decision, EXERCISE control, HAVE possession). TAKE usually indicates acquisition (#1 above), with a consequent suggestion of initiation rather than continuation.

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12. Consider

This meaning needs a preceding generalization, the imperative form of TAKE, and an example-naming object. The example is implied to be familiar to the addressee, but something unfamiliar about it will follow in the next sentence. For details, see 33. Complex-Example-Giving.

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13. Other

Take umbrage = “feel insulted”
take delivery = “be present to receive (delivered goods)”

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take WITH AN OBJECT + OTHER WORDS

Extra wording with TAKE + object includes the following:

14. Preposition Phrase or Adverb

Placing one of these after TAKE + object creates various further meanings. With movement adverbs (there, forward, out etc.) and movement prepositions (to, from, into, out of, along, over etc.), TAKE usually means “escort” or “transfer from a current to a new place”. Parents, for example, might take children (from home) to school, and citizens might take parcels into a post office. It is in this sense that TAKE is an opposite of BRING, which expresses movement to a current place.

Occasionally, the meaning of enforcement accompanies that of transfer, as in take someone to jail or …into custody.

With through after its object, TAKE usually means “guide”. The next word(s) typically represent something complicated, such as detailed instructions or a legal contract.

Idiomatic preposition expressions after TAKE + object include take … by storm, take someone at their word, take … at face value, take … for granted, take … on board, take someone to task and take … into consideration. Note the preposition in the last (see 144. Words that are Often Heard Wrongly, #4).

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15. Indirect Object

An indirect object is a noun-like expression between a verb and its object that names a beneficiary or recipient of the verb’s action or state (see 126. Verbs with an Indirect Object). Indirect objects are only possible with some verbs. TAKE has one when expressing requirement, duration or transfer (#6, #7 and #14 above):

(c) Recovery from the pandemic will take the world years.

(d) Guests can show gratitude by taking their host a gift.

The object in sentences like (d) must represent something desirable.

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16. Object Complement

One rare usage is practically confined to the military expression take someone prisoner. Prisoner is an object complement because it is shown by TAKE to be the same person as the object someone (see 220. Features of Complements, #1). Alternatives to prisoner are captive and hostage.

TAKE has a different meaning with as + object complement:

(e) Ancient peoples took comets as a bad luck sign.

Here, took means “believed”, and implies consequent emotion or behaviour. A sign is common after as. Alternatives include agreement, a compliment, an indication, licence, permission and refusal. Most belief verbs have this kind of as (see 92. Verbs with an Object + “as”).

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17. Stative “to” Verb

Stative verbs represent an unchanging situation (see 66.Types of Passive Verb Meaning). They are usable in the to (infinitive) form after TAKE + object like this:

(f) Consumers take low prices TO MEAN low quality.

TAKE here means “assume” or “suppose”. Other stative verbs commonly used after TAKE include BE, EXIST, HAVE and KNOW. With BE, the usage is similar to that with as above, but does not imply consequential emotion or behaviour.

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18. “-ing” Verb

An -ing verb sometimes replaces an adverb or preposition phrase after TAKE meaning “escort” (#14 above). The possibilities are mostly the same as those that can express a leisure activity after GO (see 176. Ways of Using GO, #3). Thus, after take someone… possible continuations include …swimming, …shopping or …visiting.

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19. “that” Clause

TAKE before that… means “understand” or “conclude”. There must be it in between (see 190. Special Uses of “it”, #4). That introduces an evidence-based conclusion that often the addressee is implicitly invited to confirm. The following, for example, might be addressed by employees to a manager:

(g) We take it (from …) that pay will be increased.

The implied invitation makes this structure typical of speech, but writers may use it to sound hesitant about a conclusion (see the end of 96. Making Statements More Uncertain 2).

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20. “Multi-Word” TAKE Verbs

TAKE combines with numerous prepositions and preposition-like adverbs to become a “prepositional” or “phrasal” verb:

PREPOSITIONAL

TAKE AFTER, TAKE TO, TAKE ACCOUNT OF, TAKE CARE OF, TAKE HOLD OF, TAKE NOTE OF, TAKE STOCK OF, TAKE SOMEONE FOR

For more about the three-word examples, see 123. Prepositional Verbs Containing a Noun. Note that in British English TAKE CARE OF usually means not “supervise” or “give caring attention to” (= LOOK AFTER ), but “resolve” or “deal with” (e.g. take care of complaints: see 276. Tricky Word Contrasts 11, #7).

PHRASAL

TAKE AWAY, TAKE BACK, TAKE DOWN, TAKE FOR, TAKE IN, TAKE OFF, TAKE ON, TAKE OUT, TAKE OVER, TAKE UP

TAKE OVER (= acquire leadership of) needs to be distinguished from OVERTAKE (= pass by moving faster).

Note also TAKE IT UPON -SELF (= assume responsibility: see 268 Verbs with a “-self” Object, #5). It usually precedes a to verb naming the relevant action (see 190. Special Uses of “it”, #4).

263. Uses of “One” and “Ones”

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“One” has three basic meanings and is usable like a noun or adjective in various formal writing roles

FUNDAMENTAL FEATURES

Although description of one and ones is common in elementary grammar books, plenty of aspects are usually left to be covered at a more advanced level. However, I feel that even there some advanced aspects tend not to be included. This post looks in detail at one and ones, adding my own insights to the widely-recognised ones and paying, as ever, particular attention to formal writing. Some of the points also arise elsewhere in this blog, but for the sake of completeness are included here in a briefer form.

Grammatically, one may be a “determiner” (similar to, but not the same as, an adjective: see 110. Nouns without “the” or “a”), or a pronoun. As a determiner, it always has a directly-following singular countable noun (e.g. one reason), so cannot be plural.

The pronoun one sometimes means “people in general”, but mostly takes its meaning from a plural noun mentioned in the surrounding words or understandable from the place of utterance. It may be alone (one is…) or have descriptive wording before and/or after (a red one, one on top).

When the pronoun use of one directly precedes its plural noun, of the (or similar: of various, of these, of those, of their etc.) is needed in between, e.g. one of the reasons. Sometimes this noun is replaced by a pronoun, and then of alone is needed (one of them). Sometimes replacement is with a superlative adjective, e.g. one of the best (see 305. Wording next to Superlatives, #5).

One before of + plural / superlative actually represents a singular form, e.g. one (reason) of the reasons (see 165. Confusions of Similar Structures 2, #6).

Ones, by contrast, is only a pronoun. Its plural noun cannot follow it, and descriptive wording is compulsory (red ones; the ones on top). Without such wording, one is replaced by some.

In all cases, one(s) fundamentally implies membership of a larger group, though this idea can be cancelled with special wording, e.g. There is (only) one Taj Mahal. An additional suggestion, also able to be cancelled, is “randomly selected from the group” (see 266. Indicating Alternatives, #5).

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USES

1. Referring to People in General

This familiar pronoun use of one is unusual in lacking a corresponding noun in the surrounding words or environment (see 211. General Words for People). Problems that it can cause for learners of English include distinguishing it from the similar uses of you, they and someone, and choosing the right pronoun when its meaning needs to be repeated (usually one, oneself or one’s: see 204. Grammatical Agreement, #2b).

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2. As a Number

Very little needs saying here about this elementary-level use. A determiner or pronoun, it adds the idea of “single” to the above-mentioned two basic meanings, so that the pronoun cannot be plural (except when referring to symbols, e.g. The number has two ones). In speech, it is often differentiated from other uses of one by being pronounced with more emphasis. In writing, an accompanying word like only or single can do this.

The pronoun occasionally has descriptive wording after it (e.g. one from all the possibilities), but rarely before. The determiner resembles the “indefinite” article a(n). The difference is typically one of emphasis or formality. For example, one instead of a in gave…reason highlights the “single” idea, and in a laboratory report one would be more formal than a before a measurement noun, e.g. one gram was added (see 67. Numbers in Spoken English, #3).

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3. Introducing a Class Member

In this use, one helps to name a member of a just-mentioned class. It usually occupies a new sentence. If other members are also being mentioned, one always introduces the first:

(a) Portuguese is spoken in some African countries. One (country) is Mozambique.

As this shows, one can be either a determiner (with some or all of the class name repeated after it) or pronoun. The latter, being less repetitious, is probably more common.

One used like this has different possible purposes, depending on what follows. If nothing or only a little more is said about the named class member, and no or just a few other class members are subsequently named, one is probably introducing an example. There is no surprise that one can assist exemplification, given that its “others exist” and “random selection” implications are also fundamental to examples (see 1. Simple Example-Giving).

On the other hand, if subsequent sentences just say more about the named class member (Mozambique above), then the randomness of this class member is cancelled so that it is no longer just an example. Some grammarians instead call it “particularization”. In speech, one might be said with emphasis. In writing, its meaning could be made more explicit by adding something like an important… or the main… before one.

Alternatively, if wording like (a) is followed almost immediately by sentences naming all the other members of the mentioned class (Angola, Cape Verde etc.), then one would have a specifying purpose, as defined within these pages in 117. Restating Generalizations More Specifically. The subsequent sentences would be as described in 122. Signpost Words in Multi-Sentence Lists. There is a subtype of this use in which one combines with a later the other to name a difference within a previously-identified pair:

(b) There were two balls. One was red, the other blue.

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4. Introducing Other Kinds of Information

In this use, it is not one that indicates the purpose of its sentence, but a noun after it:

(c) Railways are a more desirable transport means than motor vehicles. One reason is…

Once again, one may or may not be indicating the start of a list. The determiner use shown above also, perhaps, implies that the writer does not know the entire list. To suggest such knowledge, one of the reasons seems preferable. Using a instead of one is also possible, suggesting the writer is unsure whether other possibilities exist.

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5. Replacing an Ordinary Noun

The pronoun one can represent other nouns besides class names:

(d) The box contained balls. Participants chose one.

Here, the noun represented by one (balls) is mentioned before it. Later mention is also possible, e.g. Participants chose one of several balls.

The noun-replacement use of one resembles the number use in that it adds the idea of “single” to the basic suggestions of “not all” and “random”. The difference is that it is less emphatic about this idea, its plural being ones or some rather than another number. However, this distinction is not always clear, and sometimes the number meaning has to be indicated more clearly by adding only.

Used alone, as in (d), one cannot follow a(n) or the (or similar). However, with descriptive wording in front, one of these is compulsory, with or without descriptive wording after, e.g. a/the red one (below). By contrast, if there is only descriptive wording after one, the choice before it must be between the (e.g. the one below) and nothing at all (one below). The one in this situation sometimes needs replacement by that (e.g. that below: see 63. Constraints on Using “the one/s”).

The plural of one in (d) is some. As mentioned earlier, ones is only possible when descriptive wording is also present. Regardless of whether this wording is before or after, sometimes the ones must be used, sometimes just ones – the plural meaning rules out a(n). Replacement of the ones is again sometimes necessary – by those instead of that – when the descriptive wording comes after.

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6. Facilitating Adjective Use

There are two notable situations where an adjective requires a/the…one or (the)…ones. The first is when the adjective needs to be in a “complement” position (with the noun it describes placed earlier and separated by BE or other link verb), but is the kind of adjective that can only describe a noun after it. Consider the following standard adjective complement:

(e) Among causes of death, heart disease is well-known.

Here, the adjective well-known is describing heart disease before it. Very many adjectives can be used in a similar way (see 220. Features of Complements, #2). However, there are exceptions. For example, leading, though suitable in terms of its meaning as a direct alternative to well-known, would not fit in grammatically.

There is no logical reason why leading should not be usable by itself after BE: it just belongs to a smallish group of English adjectives that have this restriction. Most grammar books list the main ones, and it is helpful that particular types of meaning tend to be involved. For a survey in this blog, see 184. Adjectives with Limited Mobility.

The problem with leading, however, can be overcome by combining it with a…one, producing …is a leading one. Even regular adjectives like famous could combine with one in this way. Note, though, that not every limited-mobility adjective can combine with one(s). The above-mentioned post gives some indication of which can. Other common ones include alternative, former, future, main, only, previous and upper.

The second notable situation requiring one(s) after an adjective is where the sentence position occupied by the adjective needs a noun as well, but mentioning the noun associated with the adjective would sound repetitious:

(f) Of the available options, a suitable one was hard to find.

Here, the adjective suitable needs a following noun because it occupies the noun position of subject (of was), yet adding the noun it describes (option) would repeat a recent mention. One solves the problem because it is able as a pronoun to occupy noun positions.

In not allowing lone adjectives in noun positions, English differs from some other languages. However, English does allow some exceptions to this rule, especially adjectives in the comparative or superlative form: the most suitable above could keep or drop one (see 102. Adjectives with no Noun 2, #1).

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7. Other Uses

One time implies selection from multiple occurrences – unlike once, which leaves the existence of other occurrences unclear (see 227. Time Adverbs, #1, II).

After BE, one can be an adjective meaning “united” (People were one in opposing…), but cannot be a number (see 184. Adjectives with Limited Mobility, #1).

The one can mean “the only one” before a noun (the one problem is…) and “the special one” by itself (He is the one).

Using one before someone’s name (e.g. one Emily Martin) suggests, like a(n) and a certain, that the addressee is unfamiliar with the person in question (for a discussion of certain, see 226. Words with Complicated Grammar 2, #2). In addition, however, one suggests that the person is rather strange or unusual.

The + adjective + ones (e.g. the young ones) with all-referring general meaning is more positive-sounding than just the + adjective (as discussed in 6. Adjectives with no Noun 1). It perhaps implies that its user belongs to the mentioned group.