Phrasal Verbs with Take: Quiz 8 and Study Guide

Do you want to test your knowledge of one of the most common verbs in English?

“Take” is a very special verb because it can change its meaning completely when you add a small word like off, up, or over. These are called phrasal verbs, and they are the key to speaking natural English.

Quick Summary: Phrasal Verbs with Take

Why Are Take Phrasal Verbs Important?

The verb “take” is used in hundreds of different ways. It is one of the 100 most common English verbs that every student must learn. However, just knowing the word “take” is not enough. To sound like a native speaker, you must understand how it pairs with prepositions.

Take off

1. Plane leaves the ground / departs
   • The helicopter took off just as the storm was approaching.
2. Become successful or popular quickly
   • Her YouTube channel really took off after one of her videos went viral.
3. Remove clothes, shoes, etc.
   • As soon as he got home, he took off his work boots.
4. Reduce a price
   • If you pay in cash, they’ll take off another five dollars.
5. Leave a place (informal)
   • We’d better take off now if we want to miss the traffic.
6. Imitate someone (often for fun)
   • He loves taking off his maths teacher’s accent in class.

Take on

1. Accept responsibility, work, or a challenge
   • Don’t take on more projects than you can finish this term.
2. Employ / hire staff
   • The café is going to take on two new baristas before summer.
3. Allow passengers or cargo onto a vehicle
   • The ferry will take on vehicles first and then foot passengers.
4. Confront or challenge someone or something
   • They’re ready to take on any team in the competition.
5. Develop a particular appearance or quality
   • The city takes on a magical feel at night when all the lights are on.

Take out

1. Borrow something from a library or similar place
   • She took out a book on Australian history for her assignment.
2. Arrange a loan, mortgage, insurance, etc.
   • We’ll need to take out travel insurance before we go overseas.
3. Remove / extract
   • He took out the batteries and replaced them with new ones.
4. Kill or destroy (informal)
   • The sniper was ordered to take out the target.
5. Go somewhere socially with someone (often a date)
   • I’m taking my parents out for lunch on Sunday.
6. Buy food to eat somewhere else
   • Let’s take out some sushi and eat it at the park.
7. Make someone very tired or drain their energy
   • That long hike really took it out of me.

Take over

1. Gain control of a company or organisation
   • A bigger supermarket chain is trying to take over the local shop.
2. Replace someone in a role or position
   • When he goes on leave, Kelly will take over as shift supervisor.
3. Gradually gain control or dominate
   • We have to stop letting work take over our weekends.

Take through

1. Explain something step by step
   • The trainer took us through the sign‑up process on the new website.

Take to

1. Start to like something or someone
   • The kids took to their new coach straight away.
2. Develop a habit
   • She’s taken to going for a walk before breakfast.
3. Go to or retreat to (often as a reaction)
   • After the argument, he took to his room and wouldn’t come out.

Take up

1. Use / occupy time or space
   • That giant sofa takes up half the living room.
2. Start a new hobby, activity or subject
   • He took up photography during uni.
3. Make a piece of clothing shorter
   • I’ll need to take up these jeans; they’re dragging on the ground.
4. Accept an offer or invitation
   • I think I’ll take you up on that offer of a lift.
5. Begin to discuss or deal with something
   • We’ll take up this issue at the next staff meeting.

Take in

1. Understand / absorb information
   • There was so much to take in during the first lecture.
2. Deceive or trick
   • Many people were taken in by the fake advertisement.
3. Let someone or an animal live or stay in your home
   • They agreed to take in an international student for a semester.
4. Make clothing smaller / tighter
   • She had the dress taken in at the waist.
5. Visit or experience something while travelling
   • We spent the afternoon taking in the views along the coast.

9. Take back

1. Return something
   • If the headphones don’t work, you should take them back.
2. Admit that what you said was wrong or too strong
   • Okay, I take back my comment; it wasn’t fair.
3. Allow someone to return to a relationship or job
   • In the end, the club took him back after his apology.
4. Cause someone to remember the past
   • That old photo really takes me back to my first year at school.

Take down

1. Remove something fixed at a height
   • We’ll take down the fairy lights after the party.
2. Write something, especially what someone is saying
   • The officer took down her statement at the station.
3. Defeat or bring someone/something down (informal)
   • The underdogs took down the top‑ranked team.

Take apart

1. Separate something into its pieces
   • He loves taking apart old radios to see how they work.
2. Criticise very strongly
   • The reviewer completely took apart the film in her blog.

Take away

1. Remove something
   • The dentist took away most of the pain with an injection.
2. Subtract (especially in simple maths)
   • Fifteen take away four is eleven.
3. Main lesson or key idea (as a noun: takeaway)
   • My main takeaway from the talk was how important sleep is.

Online Quiz

Test your understanding with this multiple-choice quiz.

Read each question carefully and choose the correct answer. Good luck!

Don’t forget to check out our other quizzes to keep your skills sharp. Consistent practice is the only way to master the English language.