Phrases with HAVE and TAKE

In this lesson, we're going to learn some key phrases with the verbs have and take. 


HAVE 

We use have when we talk about events, actions, experiences and activities. 

Examples: 

• I'm going to have a bath. 
• Let's have a party to celebrate your birthday. 
• We usually have a break at noon. 
• Did you have a nice holiday? 
• Did you have a nice time in London? 

We use have when we talk about eating food and meals. 

Examples: 

• We had a wonderful meal in the new Italian restaurant on New Oxford Street. 
• Shall we have lunch together sometime? (You don't know exactly when or you haven't decided yet.) 

We use have for days or parts of days. 

Examples: 

• Have a nice day! 
• I had a tough day. 
• Did you have a nice morning (afternoon / evening / birthday / holiday)? 

We use have for conversations and interactions. 

Examples: 

• I need to have a chat with my colleague about our working hours at the weekend. 
• My parents had an argument about money. 

We use have when we talk about sleeping. 

Examples: 

• She had a rest in the afternoon. 
• I used to have terrible dreams when I was young. 

We use have when we talk about accidents and problems with cars. 

Example: 

• She had an accident when she was young. She fell off a horse. 

We use have when we talk about travel. 

Examples: 

• We had a 12-hour flight from London to Hanoi. 
• Have a safe trip!

PHRASES WITH HAVE

• have breakfast / lunch / dinner (Don't use 'a' in this case!) 
• have fun 
• have a shower / bath 
• have a nap 
• have a rest 
• have a chat 
• have a baby 
• have a look 
• have a choice / an opportunity 
• have a problem 
• have a feeling 
• have a cold (When you are sick and you sneeze a lot.) 
• have an influence 
• have an operation 
• have a clue / idea 
• have a surprise
• have a (good) laugh (about something) (Informal) 

TAKE

Remember: 
We don't use take when we talk about having a meal or a drink. 

Examples: 

• After the cinema we usually go for a pizza. 
• Why don't we have a coffee together tomorrow morning? 

We use take to talk about time and duration. 

Examples: 

• take something to do something - It takes about half an hour to get to the airport. 
• take somebody something (to do something) - How much does it take you to get to work? 
• It takes me 20 minutes to get to work. 
• It took us a week to paint the house. 

The verb take can be used in other cases as well. These are the most common phrases that you need to learn. 


We use take in a lot of phrases, especially with nouns. In these cases, the meaning of take depends on the noun. 

PHRASES WITH TAKE 

• take notes (= to write something down) 
• take advantage (of something) 
• take a photograph / picture of somebody / something 
• take somebody's temperature 
• take a seat (a polite way of inviting somebody to sit down) 
• take bribes (= to give or offer money to somebody to persuade them to help you, especially by doing something dishonest or illegal) 
• take advice / take (someone's) advice (about something) 
• take criticism 
• take a step / walk / stroll / trip 
• take a bath / shower 
• take a look (at) (It's more casual and friendly.) (= to look) 
• take a deep breath 
• take a break / rest 
• take a risk 
• take a job (= to accept a job offer) 
• take a chance / an opportunity 
• take an action (= to do something in order to make something happen or to deal with a situation) 
• take time (to do something) (= to need a certain amount of time)  
• take part (in something) (= to participate; to be actively involved in something with other people) 
• take place (= to happen; used for organized events) 
• take responsibility (for something)
• take an exam / a course 
• take a taxi / bus / train / plane 

Exercise 

1. I just ................ a sandwich for lunch. 
2. My hair is too long. I really need to ................ a haircut. 
3. There is no need to hurry. ................ your time. 
4. Could you ................ a picture of us, please? 
5. This picture was ................ on my 25th birthday. 
6. I was angry at that time but we ................ a good laugh about it afterwards. 
7. They're ................ a surprise party for Kim on Saturday night. 
8. The menu ................ a good choice of desserts. 
9. My husband and I ................ turns to cook. 
10. He ................ what I said as a criticism. 
11. The dentist can't ................ any new patients today. 
12. If they offer me the job, I'll ................ it. 
13. I think you should ................ advantage of this discount. 
14. This festival ................ place every summer. 
15. The 2016 Summer Olympics ................ place in Brazil. 
16. All Members of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) can ................ part in the European Song     Contest. Every year, the invitation to participate in the contest is sent out to all Members. While some of them choose not to ................ part, most of them do. 


Answers: 
1. had; 2. have; 3. Take; 4. take; 5. taken; 6. had; 7. having; 8. has; 9. take; 10. took; 11. take; 12. take;
13. take; 14. takes; 15. took; 16. take; take;