Category Archives: Collocations

Collocations with Take

📚 What Are Collocations?

Collocations are words that often go together in natural English. For example, we say:

  • ✅ take a break (not make a break)

  • ✅ take a photo (not do a photo)

Learning collocations helps students speak more fluently and naturally, because native speakers store these word combinations as “chunks” of language.

CLICK HERE for my “English Language Songs” and Worksheets

🧑‍🏫 Why Teach “Take” Collocations?

The verb “take” is especially useful to teach because:

  • It’s highly common and appears in many everyday expressions.

  • Its collocations cover a wide range of situations (e.g., time, responsibility, emotions).

  • It often confuses students because it can’t always be translated literally into their native languages.

Examples include:

  • take a shower, take a seat, take responsibility, take a chance, take part (in)

🧑‍🏫 How to Teach “Take” Collocations

1. Introduce in Context

Start with a short dialogue, story, or audio clip that includes several “take” collocations. Have students listen or read and highlight all the phrases with “take.”

Example:

“I took a deep breath and took a chance. Then I took the elevator to the 5th floor and took a seat.”

Ask students: “What do these expressions mean?” Elicit or explain the meanings.

2. Group by Theme or Meaning

Organize “take” collocations into categories to help students remember them:

  • Time/Rest: take a break, take a nap, take your time

  • Responsibility: take responsibility, take charge

  • Emotions/Reactions: take offense, take it easy, take something seriously

  • Opportunities/Actions: take a chance, take part, take action

  • Transport/Direction: take a taxi, take the bus, take the stairs

✅ Use visuals or a mind map on the board to make categories clear.

3. Practice with Matching, Sorting, and Fill-in-the-Blanks

Provide students with a list of “take” collocations and have them:

  • Match them to their definitions

  • Fill in the blanks in sentences

  • Sort them into categories

✅ Example: “She was tired, so she decided to ___ a nap.”

4. Use in Speaking & Writing

Have students create short role-plays, conversations, or written stories using 3–5 “take” collocations. Encourage creativity.

✅ Role-play prompt: “You’re planning a vacation. Use as many ‘take’ collocations as you can.”

5. Reinforce with Games and Reviews

Try games like:

  • Collocation Bingo: Students listen for “take” collocations as you read a story.

  • Memory Match: Match halves of collocations (e.g., “take” + “a seat”).

✏️ Teaching Tips

  • Encourage students to keep a collocation journal

  • Highlight the difference between literal vs. idiomatic uses of “take”

  • Recycle learned collocations regularly in new contexts

CLICK HERE for my “English Language Songs” and Worksheets

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image from http://englishstudyhere.com

Collocations with “take” such as take part in something, take time, take a look, take a bath, take a shower, take a break, take a chance, take a picture, take a decision, take a bite. See where you can use these other collocations with take.

Examples of changing tenses and the person. The first two examples are grammatically different than the others.

(1) take part in something

I’m going to / I will take part in a school activity.

You can / may / should take part in it. (some activity)

We took part in the discssion.

They’ve taken part in it before.

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(2) take time

I’m going to / I will take my time.

You can / may / should take your time.

We took our time.

They’ve taken their time.

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(3) take a look

I’m going to / I will take a look at it.

You can / may / should take a look at it tomorrow.

We took a look at it this morning.

They’ve taken a look at it before.

CLICK HERE for my “Everyday Verbs Songs” and Worksheets

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📅 LESSON PLAN: Collocations with “Take”

Level: Intermediate ESL
Time: 45–60 minutes
Focus: Vocabulary development, speaking, listening, writing

Objectives

  • Recognize and understand common collocations with “take”

  • Use collocations accurately in context

  • Develop fluency and natural usage through practice activities

Materials

  • Worksheet (included below)

  • Collocation cards (printable or digital)

  • Whiteboard or digital presentation tool

Warm-Up (5 mins)

  • Ask: “What are some things you can ‘take’?”

  • Write student responses on the board and group similar phrases

Presentation (10 mins)

  • Introduce common “take” collocations by category:

    • Time/Rest: take a break, take a nap

    • Responsibility: take responsibility, take charge

    • Action/Chance: take a chance, take part, take action

    • Emotion/Reaction: take it easy, take offense, take something seriously

    • Daily Routines: take a shower, take a bus

  • Provide example sentences and check comprehension

Guided Practice (15 mins)

  • Students complete matching, sorting, and fill-in-the-blank tasks (worksheet Part A & B)

  • Review answers together and correct pronunciation if needed

Speaking Practice (10 mins)

  • Students choose 3 collocations and write a short dialogue

  • Pair up and act out the dialogue, then share with the class

Wrap-Up (5 mins)

  • Collocation Card Game: Match or memory pairs

  • Assign homework: Use 5 “take” collocations in a short story

🗋 WORKSHEET: Collocations with “Take”

Part A: Match the Collocations with Their Meanings

  1. Take a break

  2. Take a chance

  3. Take a nap

  4. Take responsibility

  5. Take it easy

  6. Take offense

  7. Take part (in)

  8. Take a shower

A. Join an activity
B. Relax; don’t work too hard
C. Try something even if it’s risky
D. Feel upset by something said
E. Accept you made a mistake
F. Clean yourself with water
G. Rest for a short time
H. Stop working for a few minutes

Write the correct letter:

  1. ___ 2. ___ 3. ___ 4. ___ 5. ___ 6. ___ 7. ___ 8. ___

Part B: Fill in the Blanks

Use the correct “take” collocation:

  1. I usually __________ a shower in the morning.

  2. You should __________ it easy this weekend. You look tired!

  3. She didn’t __________ part in the meeting. She was sick.

  4. Let’s __________ a break. We’ve been studying for hours.

  5. He __________ offense when she corrected his English.

  6. I need to __________ a nap after lunch.

Part C: Your Turn!

Write a short story (4–6 sentences) using at least 3 collocations with “take.”

🎨 COLLOCATION CARDS: “TAKE”

Use these for flashcards or digital slides. Each card shows:

Card 1
Front: Take a break
Back: Stop working for a short time (Image: person with coffee at desk)

Card 2
Front: Take a shower
Back: Clean yourself with water (Image: shower icon)

Card 3
Front: Take part (in)
Back: Join an activity (Image: group of people in discussion)

Card 4
Front: Take it easy
Back: Relax, don’t stress (Image: hammock or beach)

Card 5
Front: Take offense
Back: Feel upset by something (Image: angry emoji)

Card 6
Front: Take a chance
Back: Try something risky (Image: dice or lottery ticket)

Card 7
Front: Take responsibility
Back: Accept blame or control (Image: checklist or hands raised)

Card 8
Front: Take a nap
Back: Short sleep (Image: person sleeping)

Extension Tip: Add more collocations like take a photo, take care, take the bus in future lessons.

CLICK HERE for my “English Language Songs” and Worksheets