take care / take a look: verb + noun collocations with take
Maria from Ukraine writes:
Maria asks: Please can you give me some information about collocations, especially about verb + noun collocations with take? Thanks a lot.
Roger Woodham replies:
collocation
Collocations are words that habitually or typically occur together. There are verb + adverb collocations like wave frantically (not wave hecticly). There are adjective + noun collocations like regular exercise (not steady exercise). There are adverb + adjective collocations like completely or wholly satisfied (not utterly satisfied). And there are verb + noun or verb + object collocations like follow someone's example (not pursue someone's example).
take
Take is one of the most commonly used verbs in the English language whose basic meaning is to move something or somebody from one place to another, e.g:
I took him to the hospital because he was having difficulty breathing.
Take plenty of warm sweaters. It will be cold in Scotland.
There are a large number of take + noun collocations of which I include a selection of the most common below. Note how much of the original meaning of take is retained in these examples.
The first five are relatively easy to understand:
take a walk / a bus / a train
take a minute / a while / ten minutes
take exercise
take an interest in
take a photo
I'm not ready yet. Why don't you take a walk round the park?
It's essential for your health to take regular exercise.
I took 300 photographs when I was on holiday in Patagonia.
Since Sharapova won Wimbledon my son has taken an interest in tennis.
Aren't you finished yet? ~ No, it will take me a while, I'm afraid
The middle five are a bit more difficult so an explanation of the meaning is given after each example:
take steps / measures / action
take advice
take offence
take cover
take pity
If you take my advice, you'll stop seeing him.
We should take steps to ensure that no more money is lost on this venture.
There's no need to take offence. I was only joking!
They were firing over our heads, so we had to take cover.
She took pity on the stray dog and be became a family pet.
take steps, measures, etc: perform an action in order to achieve something
take advice: follow someone's guidance (on how best to achieve something)
take offence: feel upset because of something someone has said or done
take cover: hide of shelter from e.g bad weather or gunfire
take pity: show sympathy for someone because they are in a bad situation.
The final five are most difficult as they are idioms whose original meaning has been lost (but which is explained in the notes below):
take the mickey out of someone
take the axe to something
take a raincheck
take heart
take one's breath away
Stop taking the mickey. I'm fed up with being the butt of your jokes.
Can you manage Friday? ~ I'll have to take a raincheck on that, I'm afraid.
The way she played Lady Macbeth was so compelling it took my breath away.
Try to take heart from the fact that he's no longer in pain.
The company took the axe to senior management and abolished five posts.
take the mickey out of someone: to tease. Mickey represents Mickey Bliss, Cockney rhyming slang for piss. The expression then is a euphemism for take the piss.
take the axe to something: make drastic cuts, particularly in workforce
take a raincheck: politely decline an offer whilst implying that you may take it up later. A rainckeck was originally a voucher used in the US entitling one to see another baseball game if the original one was rained off.
take heart: take courage In former times, moral courage was supposed to come from the heart and physical courage from the stomach.
take one's breath away: be so surprised by something that it makes you hold your breath
Ones that we have not worked on include:
take a seat
take a bath / shower
take care
take a look
take milk / sugar in tea / coffee
take a break
take somebody's word for something
take your temperature
take a risk
take the credit
take responsibility
take the weight off ones feet
take a dim view of something
take ones hat off to someone
take a page out of someone's book
take a leak
take stock
that takes the biscuit!
Check them out in a good dictionary, if the meaning is not clear. Start with the most commonly used ones which I have listed first.
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6 comments:
Assure, ensure, insure - assurance, insurance Little boy
Betty Choy from Hong Kong writes:
I would be most grateful if you could tell me the difference between assurance and insurance. I was told that we talk about life assurance but property insurance. However, I have also heard that American insurance companies talk about life insurance. Please help.
Roger Woodham replies:
I will start with the verbs from which these nouns are derived as they are in more common use and then deal with the more specialist noun forms second.
assure - ensure - insure
If you assure someone that something is true or will happen, you tell them that it is definitely true or will happen, often in order to make them less worried. We often use such phrases as I can assure you or let me assure you in order to emphasise the truth of what we are saying:
* She hastened to assure me that the report contained no critical comment on my department's performance.
* Let me assure you / I can assure you that the children will be totally safe on this adventure holiday. No risks of any kind will be taken.
Ensure is subtly different from assure and people often confuse the two. If you ensure that something happens, you make certain that it happens. A less formal equivalent of this verb in spoken English would be make sure:
* Ensure / Make sure that your working hours as well as your rate of pay are written into your contract.
* I tried to ensure that everybody wore their life jackets the whole time that we were on the sailing boats, but not everybody carried out my instruction.
In American English, ensure is sometimes spelt insure:
* I shall try to insure that you have a nice time while you are here.
Insure has another meaning, as you suggest, Betty. If you insure yourself or your property, you pay money to an insurance company so that if you become ill or if your property is stolen or damaged, the company will pay you a sum of money:
* We can insure your car against fire, theft and third party damage for as little as £30 per month.~
* Make sure you remember to insure the digital camera and the mobile phones. They're not included under the house contents insurance.
Assurance
First and foremost, assurance has the same meaning as assure. If you give someone an assurance that something is true or will happen, you say that it is definitely true or will definitely happen in order to make them feel less worried:
* He sought an assurance from me that i'd always be available on Saturdays to undertake the work.
* I was unable to give her any assurance that Beth would arrive in time for the family re-union.
Secondly, in British English we sometimes talk about life assurance as an alternative to life insurance to describe the form of insurance in which a person makes regular payments to an insurance company in return for a sum of money which is paid to them after a period of time or to their family if they die. Both terms are freely used in British English:
* As we came down that hill, I thought we were going to die and I started thinking about my life insurance / life assurance policies.
Insurance is the term used to describe all other types of insurance:
* That car is not insured. The insurance expired at the end of July and you haven't renewed it.
Note that we cannot say ensurance. There is no noun which is derived from ensure.
either, neither and too
Qemal from Albania writes:
I am a military man from Albania and I would be very grateful if you could give me some explanation of how to use neither, either and too. I find it very difficult.
Wojciech Szczupa from Poland writes:
Try as I might, I couldn't find a clear answer to this question. How should we say: neither of them is or neither of them are? Which form would you use? Is one more proper than the other?
Roger Woodham replies:
Either indicates a choice between two alternatives. Neither combines two negative ideas. Study the following examples of use:
* Which of these apples would you prefer? ~ I don't want either of them, thanks.
* You can either have the £15 cotton top or the £17 cotton-and-polyester blouse. You can't have both.
* Neither Richard nor Judy could come to the party.
* I want neither alcohol nor cigars for my birthday. Now that I'm fifty I must live a healthier life.
Both either and neither can function as pronouns, determiners or adverbs.
When they function as pronouns, they are often followed by of + noun phrase:
* I've known you for two years, but I haven't met either of your two brothers yet. (OR: I've known you for two years, but I haven't met either Francis or Damien yet.)
* Neither of my two brothers survived the war. Neither Francis, nor Damien.
* Which of these fur coats is yours? ~ Neither (of them). That one's mine.
When they function as adverbs, they behave as linking words which can be tagged on in agreement at the end of a negative sentence. But with neither, subject and verb are inverted, with either this does not happen:
* I can't make the meeting on Tuesday. ~ No, neither can I (OR: No, nor can I.)
* I can't make the meeting on Tuesday. ~ No, I can't either.
* I don't approve of sex before marriage. ~ No, neither do I. (OR: No, nor do I.)
* I don't approve of sex before marriage. ~ No, I don't either.
* I don't go mountain climbing and I don't go mountain walking, either. (OR: I don't go mountain climbing and neither do I go mountain walking.
Too can function as an adding adverb which is placed in agreement at the end of an affirmative sentence. Compare the following:
* I like peaches and nectarines best. ~ Yeah, I like peaches and nectarines, too.
* I don't like peaches or nectarines. ~ No, I don't like peaches or nectarines, either.
When either and neither function as determiners, they are placed before the noun.
* On neither side of the road was there anybody to be seen.
* Neither player could raise his game. It was a very boring game of tennis to watch.
* The sisters in the photograph were standing on either side of their dad. (OR: ...on each side..., OR: ...on both sides....)
Neither of them is or neither of them are?
I don't think there is a clear answer, Wojciech. Although this of-pronoun is normally considered singular, it is normally followed by plural nouns or pronouns. Thus, the boundary between singular and plural is blurred and effectively it can go with either a singular or plural verb form. Strictly speaking, it should be singular, but you will hear both formulations with no clear preference for one or the other:
* Neither of them are coming. They both have to work next weekend.
* Neither of them is coming. They both have to work next weekend.
* Which of these umbrellas is yours? ~ Neither of them are. That one's mine.
* Which of these umbrellas is yours? ~ Neither is. That's mine.
There is similar confusion, I think, when neither...nor are employed as conjunctions, meaning not one and not the other. Consider the following:
* Neither Francoise nor Helmut likes to eat English breakfasts, even at weekends.
* Neither Franciose nor Helmut like to eat English breakfasts, even at weekends
* Neither Emma nor Susan gets on with Chloe.
* Neither Emma nor Susan get on with Chloe.
Please explain the difference between ‘house’ and ‘home’.
Roger replies: more questions
House describes a particular type of building.
Home is the place where you live and feel that you belong to.
Compare the following:
* 'Most people in Britain live in semi-detached houses.'
* 'We’re going to buy Emma a doll’s house for Christmas.'
* 'The Houses of Parliament in London are visited by 50,000 people each year.'
* 'I’ve enjoyed living abroad for the last six years, but it’s time for me to go back home now!'
* 'We were at home in bed when our car was stolen from outside the house.'
* 'These children need a good home and we are in a position to give them one.'
Note also the differences in meaning and use between 'houseproud', 'housework' and 'homework', 'homesick' and 'homeless'.
Study the following:
* 'I did my housework (i.e. cleaning the house) this morning and my homework (work given to me by my school to do at home) this afternoon.'
* 'People say that I’m houseproud because I spend so much time cleaning the house so that others will admire it.'
* 'She said that she was missing her home and family so much. She sounded really homesick.'
* 'I am homeless. I have no home to go to.
Supawadee from Thailand asks:
I always confuse to be used to and used to, especially the meaning of them. Please kindly show me what the differences are.
Roger replies:
When we use used to, we are talking about something which happened regularly or was true at an earlier stage in our lives but which is now over.
Thus, it can only be used in the past tense. If we want to talk about present habits or states, we simply use the present simple tense.
With the negative we often say never used to in preference to didn't use to or used not to - in an informal register. Study the following examples:
* 'Do you remember? There used to be fields of clover where those houses are now.'
* 'I never used to smoke, but now I smoke twenty a day.'
* 'You used to play chess with your friends, but nowadays you play chess with your computer.'
* 'I used to buy really expensive make-up, but that was when I was working full-time.'
To make questions, we use the normal auxiliary did. Note that used to cannot be used in question tag form. Note also the possible/probable replies to used to questions.
Study the following examples:
* 'Did you use to go ice-skating when you were young?' 'No, I never did.'
* 'Didn't you use to ring the school to say you were ill and then play poker with Sam?' 'I sometimes did, yeah!'
* 'You used to do ballet in the church hall, didn't you?' 'Yes, I did. Every Saturday between the ages of nine and twelve.'
be used to + noun or -ing
get used to + noun or -ing
If somebody gets or is used to something, he becomes or is fully familiar with it. It is no longer strange or awkward. It can refer to past, present or future experiences. Study the following:
* 'These are very high heels, I know, but I'm sure you'll get used to (wearing) them.'
* 'I wasn't used to living in such a small flat and I found it really hard at first.'
* 'I'm used to all the noise now, but I'd always lived in the country before, you see, where it is very quiet.'
* 'I never got used to shaking hands with people all the time when I lived there. It's just not the custom in our country.'
* 'Are you getting used to the accent now? It's very different from standard English, isn't it?
In all of the above examples be or get used to can be replaced by be or become accustomed to which is very similar in meaning, if a little more formal.
Read through them again using these replacement verbs. So, just to recap and confirm:
* 'When I lived in Mexico, I used to drink tequila at every opportunity.' (A regular habit then, but probably not now.)
* 'I found it quite a strong drink at first, but I soon got used to it.' (It quickly became quite palatable.)
suppose and supposed to
Sanmati Pragya from India writes:
Hi! I’m an Indian citizen living in America. Here people use suppose and supposed to a lot of the time in conversation. Can you please tell me in which sense and where they should be used?
Roger Woodham replies:
Suppose and supposed to are used very frequently in British English too. We shall see that suppose has a number of different meanings and uses and that supposed to is different again from suppose.
suppose = think/believe/imagine/expect
In this sense, suppose is often used in requests with negative structures when we hope the answer will be positive:
* I don’t suppose you could lend me your dinner jacket, could you? ~ Sure! When do you need it?
* I suppose it’s too late to see the doctor now, isn’t it? ~ Hold on. Let me see if I can fit you in.
* I don’t suppose I could see the doctor now, could I?~ I can fit you in at 11.30. Can you wait till then?
It is also used in short answers with the same meaning of think/believe/imagine/expect. Note that two forms of the negative are possible here:
* Will Jeremy be at Peter’s this evening? ~ I don’t think/suppose/imagine/expect so.
* Will you try to see Jennifer when you get back? ~ I think/suppose/imagine/expect not.
* Would you be prepared to stay on for an extra week? ~ I suppose/expect/guess so.
Note that suppose here describes a mental or emotional state, and it is not normally used in the continuous form.
Suppose/supposing = what if…?
Suppose or supposing can also be used in a quite different way instead of What if…? to introduce suggestions or to express fears. Compare the following and note that the verb that follows suppose or supposing can be in either present of past tense form:
* We haven’t got strawberry jam for the filling, so suppose / supposing we use(d) raspberry jam, would that be all right?
* Suppose / Supposing I come / came next Thursday rather than Wednesday, will / would that be all right?
* Will these shoes will be OK for tennis? ~ I don’t think so. Suppose / Supposing the court is wet and you slip(ped)?
be supposed to + infinitive = should
Supposed to in this sense means that something should be done because it is the law, the rule or the custom. However, in practice it is often not done:
* I’m supposed to tidy my room before I go to bed at night, but I always tidy it when I get up in the morning instead.
* In Germany you’re not supposed to walk on the grass in the parks, but in England you can.
* I’m supposed to return these books by Friday, but I’m not sure whether I can.
In the past tense, it is used to mean that something was planned or intended to happen, but did not happen. Note that in these examples, we can use should have as an alternative to was supposed to:
* I was supposed to go to Cuba for a conference last year but then I got ill and couldn’t go.
* Wasn’t Tom supposed to be here for lunch? I wonder what’s happened to him!
* I should have gone to Cuba for a conference last year but then I got ill and couldn’t go.
* Shouldn’t Tom have been here for lunch? I wonder what’s happened to him!
supposed to be = generally believed to be
Finally, we can use supposed to be in this sense:
* This stuff’s supposed to be good for stomach cramps. Why don’t you try it?
* The castle was supposed to be haunted, but I had a good night’s sleep there nevertheless!
When you are practising these examples in speech, note that the final d in supposed to is not pronounced. It is pronounced as 'suppose to', but should always be written in its correct form grammatically as supposed to.
Possessives or compound nouns?
We can demonstrate the link between two nouns either by using possessive forms (the US bank's finance division / the finance division of the US bank) or compound nouns (the US bank finance division). Sometimes all three are possible, as here. Sometimes one form is more likely than another.
Possessive forms: 's or of ?
We normally use the genitive or possessive 's structure when we are referring to ownership and possession, people and animals, personal and professional relationships, or the origin of something in a country or organisation:
Mark's uncle has just bought a Porsche Boxter.
Mark's Uncle Frank is Sheila's oldest brother.
Pig's liver is full of iron and vitamins.
He has strange tastes: he prefers goat's milk to cow's milk.
Stan's new secretary is not even computer literate.
The company's difficulties should not be underestimated.
Scotland's natural beauty is on a par with Finland's.
In examples relating to country and organisations, i.e. things which are inanimate, both forms are often possible:
The policy of the company / the company's policy is to recruit staff from all EU countries.
Poland's history / the history of Poland illustrates the art of survival against the odds.
We also use the possessive 's to express certain ideas relating to time:
New Year's Day falls on a Saturday in 2005.
Last Saturday's match was fully reported in last Sunday's News of the World.
There was twenty minutes' delay before the plane could take off.
Disneyland was seven hours' drive from where we were staying.
Compound nouns are sometimes also possible here:
Our son so much wanted to go to Disneyland that we had to resign ourselves to a seven-hour journey.
A ten-minute delay was acceptable, but a three-hour delay wasn't.
Note that although we talk about New Year's Day all other special days in the calendar are formed with compound nouns: Christmas Day, Boxing Day, Good Friday, Easter Day, Bank Holiday Monday, etc. When talking about resolutions, it can be either New Year resolutions (more likely) or New Year's resolutions (less likely).
Note that when we refer to a specific date, the of structure is used:
Holidaymakers suffering from that stomach bug on board the cruise ship, the Aurorra - this was reported in The Sunday Times of 25 November 2003.
Over one hundred Renaissance paintings were destroyed in the earthquake of 1926.
Compound nouns (noun + noun)
Note the frequency of compound nouns in the previous two examples - holidaymakers, stomach bug, cruise ship, Sunday Times, Renaissance paintings, earthquake. When we use compound nouns like these, the first noun has the same function as a classifying adjective - it tells or describes the nature of the second noun:
This shoe shop sells sports shoes.
Communication skills teachers sometimes teach computer studies.
Compound nouns are particularly useful in newspaper headlines and reports as they enable a lot of information to be summarised quickly:
Premiership footballers on a winter break in Spain may face gang-rape allegation charges.
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