TO TAKE
TO TAKE
Uso 1. Tomar / Coger
To take a shower, a bath, a pill, a break, etc.
Why not study one more page before taking a break?.
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take a shower. Ive taken a shower
every morning for at least twelve
years. Before I took showers I took
baths. I havent taken a bath for at
least six years. After taking a shower
I have a cup of coffee. I get to the
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of coffee. (Yes, thats two cups of
coffee before 9:00 A lot of caffeine,
dont you think?)
I teach classes until 12:30 and then I
take a short break. I dont like taking
too many breaks during the day and
I dont like taking too many days off
either.
I take a vacation at Christmas time
and another one in the summer, but
otherwise I dont really take days off.
I think Ive taken two sick days off in
seven years.
Its a good thing I like my job.
Ojo! Nunca se dice To take a coffee
para decir tomar un cafe. En ingls se
dice:
To have a coffee
To have a drink
To have a snack
18 THE VERB CIRCUS
Pista de audio 01
Cada maana, lo primero que hago
es ducharme. Llevo duchndome
cada maana desde hace por
lo menos doce aos. Antes de
ducharme, me baaba. Llevo sin
darme un bao por lo menos seis
aos. Despus de ducharme, tomo
XQDWD]DGHFDI/OHJRDODRFLQDD
las 8:30 y tomo otra taza de caf. (S,
eso hacen dos tazas de caf antes de
las 9:00 - Mucha cafena, no crees?)
Doy clases hasta las 12:30 y despus
me tomo un pequeo descanso.
No me gusta tomar demasiados
descansos durante el da y tampoco
me gusta coger demasiados das
libres.
Cojo vacaciones en Navidades y otra
vez en verano, pero aparte de eso no
suelo coger muchos das libres. Creo
que he cogido dos das de baja por
enfermedad en siete aos.
Menos mal que me gusta mi trabajo.
Every day I take. Yesterday I took. Lately Ive taken.
Pista de audio 02
TRANSLATION CHALLENGE!
Tapa la columna de la derecha y traduce en voz alta las siguientes frases:
1 Me tomo dos aspirinas a la semana. I take two aspirins a week.
2 Ella ha cogido muchas ms She has taken a lot more holidays
vacaciones que yo. than I have.
3 Cuntas aspirinas tom (l)? How many aspirins did he take?
4 Por qu no se han tomado un Why havent they taken a break
descanso an? yet?
5 Yo que t, no tomara tantos If I were you, I wouldnt take so
medicamentos. much medicine.
INTERROGATIVE CHALLENGE!
Forma la pregunta correspondiente para la informacin que viene en negrita:
1 I take a break at 11:00. What time do you take a break?
2 I take medication a few times a year. How often do you take medication?
3 I took a shower because it was about Why did you take a shower?
time.
4 SusanLVJRLQJWRWDNHYDFDWLRQUVW :KRLVJRLQJWRWDNHYDFDWLRQUVW"
5 I would take a break at 3:00 if I were What time would you take a break
you. if you were me?
OTHER USES: To take a taxi, bus etc.
Hace meses que no cojo un taxi. I havent taken a taxi for months.
Con qu frecuencia coges taxis? How often do you take a taxi?
Con qu frecuencia coges el metro? How often do you take the metro?
LOS VERBOS ESENCIALES DEL INGLS 19
 TO TAKE
Uso 2. Llevar
To transport someone or something somewhere.
Do you plan to take this book with you when you travel?.
Whenever I go home to Canada, my
parents always come to the airport
to take me home. They usually take
me straight home, but sometimes we
stop along the way.
Here in Madrid, I dont have a car,
so I rely on public transportation to
take me everywhere. There are over
15,000 taxis in Madrid and theyll
take you anywhere for a reasonable
price. When Im in Canada I feel I
need my own car because of the
distance between cities and towns.
As soon as I get back to Canada I take
the car and use it to take friends out
to lunch, to visit other friends or to
go shopping.
Ive been lucky to have parents that
have always taken me wherever Ive
wanted to go. When I was young my
parents often took me to visit my
grandparents. In 1986 they took me
to the World Expo in Vancouver. Expo
86 marked the last time a World
Expo was held in North America.
Fjate! Cuidado con la diferencia
entre el verbo to take (llevar) y el
verbo to bring (traer).
Recuerda que, por lo general: We
bring things here and take things
there.
20 THE VERB CIRCUS
Pista de audio 03
Siempre que voy a Canad, mis
padres siempre vienen al aeropuerto
para llevarme a casa. Normalmente
me llevan directamente a casa, pero
a veces paramos por el camino.
Aqu en Madrid, no tengo coche, as
que dependo del transporte pblico
para llevarme a todas partes. Hay
ms de 15.000 taxis en Madrid que te
llevan a cualquier sitio por un precio
razonable. Cuando estoy en Canad,
siento que necesito mi propio coche
debido a la distancia entre ciudades y
pueblos. En cuanto vuelvo a Canad
cojo el coche y lo uso para llevar a
amigos a comer, para visitar a otros
amigos o para ir de compras.
He tenido la suerte de tener unos
padres que siempre me han llevado
adonde he querido. De joven, mis
padres me llevaban a menudo
a visitar a mis abuelos. En 1986
me llevaron a la Expo Mundial en
Vancouver. La Expo 86 fue la ltima
vez que una Expo se celebr en Norte
Amrica.
Every day I take. Yesterday I took. Lately Ive taken.
Pista de audio 04
TRANSLATION CHALLENGE!
Anmate! Traduce las frases siguientes del castellano al ingls:
1 Ella no le llev al aeropuerto. She didnt take him to the airport.
2 Ella me llev ah tres veces. She took me there three times.
3 No nos has llevado al zoo. You havent taken us to the zoo.
4 Has llevado a alguien contigo Have you ever taken anyone with
alguna vez? you?
5 Te he llevado a sitios adonde no la Ive taken you to places where I
llev (a ella). didnt take her.
INTERROGATIVE CHALLENGE!
Tapa la columna de la derecha y construye la pregunta correcta:
1 John is going to take me home when Whos going to take you home
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2 Ive taken her out to dinner three How many times have you taken
times. her out to dinner?
3 I took her there because she asked. Why did you take her there?
4 They are taking him there at 7:30. What time are they taking him
there?
5 Randy can take you there if Joe isnt Who can take me if Joe isnt
available. available?
Una expresin ms!
I cant take it anymore No lo aguanto ms!
Fjate en que hay muchas maneras de decir aguantar, soportar o tolerar. Se
puede decir to bear, to put up with, to tolerate y to stand.
No lo aguanto ms I cant stand it anymore.
Llevo todo el da aguantndole y ya no puedo ms! Ive been putting up with
him all day, and I cant take it any more.
LOS VERBOS ESENCIALES DEL INGLS 21
 TO TAKE
Uso 3. Tardar
To require time to do something.
How long will it take you to read the story?.
Canada is a big country. It takes
almost a week to drive from coast to
coast. In 2002 I drove from Winnipeg,
in the mid-West of Canada, to
Halifax, on the East coast. It took
about thirty hours.
In the last section I mentioned how I
feel I need a car to get around. With
the great distance between cities,
a car is essential. It takes about
two and a half hours to drive from
Montreal to Ottawa, and then it
takes another four hours to drive to
Toronto. In 2003 I drove from Ottawa
(the capital of Canada Did you
know?) to Halifax, where I lived. It
normally takes eighteen hours, but
I got caught in a snowstorm and it
took me over thirty hours!
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takesPHDERXWIRUW\YHPLQXWHVWR
get to work in the morning, but when
WKHWUDIFLVEDGLWFDQtake me
almost an hour and a half.f.
Los espaoles suelen usar
el trmino pWUDIFMDPq
demasiado. Un pWUDIFMDPq
VLJQLFDDWDVFRRFDUDYDQDGH
coches, pero en ingls se usa
cuando la carretera est MUY
bloqueada.
Recuerda tambin que el
WUFRo es incontable, as que
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decimos que hay pKHDY\WUDIFq,
pDORWRIWUDIFqo incluso bad
WUDIFq, (sin el artculo a/an).
22 THE VERB CIRCUS
Pista de audio 05
Canad es un pas muy grande. Se
tarda casi una semana en cruzarlo
en coche. En el ao 2002, conduje
desde Winnipeg, en el medio-oeste
de Canad, a Halifax, en la costa este.
Tard unas treinta horas.
En la ltima seccin mencion que
me pareca necesario tener un coche
para moverme. Con la gran distancia
entre ciudades, el coche es esencial.
Se tarda unas dos horas y media en
ir de Montreal a Ottawa en coche, y
luego se tarda otras cuatro horas en
llegar a Toronto. En el 2003 conduje
desde Ottawa (la capital de Canad -
lo sabas?) a Halifax, donde viva. Se
suele tardar dieciocho horas, pero me
pill una tormenta de nieve y tard
ms de treinta horas!
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tardar cuarenta y cinco minutos en
llegar al trabajo por la maana, pero
FXDQGRKD\PXFKRWUFRSXHGR
tardar hasta una hora y media.
ojo! Para decir cunto se tarda en
general usamos: It takes.
p,WWDNHVYHKRXUVWRGULYHWR9DOHQFLDq.
Se tarda cinco horas en ir a Valencia en
coche.
It takes two years to learn the process
well. Se tarda dos aos en aprender el
proceso bien.
<SDUDHVSHFLFDUFXQWRWDUGDDOJXLHQ
decimos: It takes him, it took her, it
takes Susan, etc. It takes me six hours to
GULYHWR9DOHQFLDEHFDXVHP\FDULVVORZq.
Tardo seis horas en ir a Valencia en coche
porque mi coche es lento.
Every day I take. Yesterday I took. Lately Ive taken.
Pista de audio 06
TRANSLATION CHALLENGE!
A traducir! A ver si puedes decir todas las frases en ingls correctamente:
1 Mi hermano tarda 45 minutos en It takes my brother 45 minutes to
llegar al trabajo. get to work.
2 Ella nunca ha tardado tanto tiempo It has never taken her this long to
en llegar a casa. get home.
3 Se tardar unos tres meses. Itll take about three months.
4 Tardaste una eternidad en It took you forever to learn it well.
aprenderlo bien.
5 l tard mucho tiempo en acostum- It took him a long time to get used
brarse a conducir por la derecha. to driving on the right.
INTERROGATIVE CHALLENGE!
Pregunta en voz alta por la informacin destacada en negrita:
1 It took three hoursWR[LW +RZORQJGLGLWWDNHWR[LW"
2 It has taken me three months to get How long has it taken you to get
used to the weather here. used to the weather here?
3 It took her 45 minutes to get to the How long did it take her to get to
RIFH WKHRIFH"
4 It takes a long time because it's Why does it take a long time?
GLIFXOW.
:KRWRRNWKHORQJHVWWRQLVKWKH
5 PeterWRRNWKHORQJHVWWRQLVKWKH
race. race?
Fjate! Algo y medio
F
En ingls, hablando de periodos de tiempo,
solemos decir an X and a half. Por ejemplo,
an hour and a half. Pero en el caso de nmeros
ms altos, se dice: two and a half Xs, three and
a half Xs, etc.
LOS VERBOS ESENCIALES DEL INGLS 23
 TO TAKE Every day I take. Yesterday I took. Lately Ive taken.
Pista de audio 08
Uso 4. Hacer falta / Requerir Pista de audio 07
To require or use resources. TRANSLATION CHALLENGE!
It takes a lot of hard work to learn English well. Crees que puedes traducir mis 5 frases sin cometer un error? Tapa el ingls

One of the main landmarks in Eastern Uno de los puntos de referencia

Canada is the Confederation Bridge,
which links Prince Edward Island
with mainland Canada across the
Northumberland Strait. It is the longest
bridge in the world to span ice-covered
waters. It took over 5,000 people to
build. The construction took 4 years. It
took one billion dollars to complete the
project. It took 1.6 billion kilograms of
reinforced concrete to build.
When I left my home near the
Confederation Bridge to come to Spain,
I knew it would take a great effort to
adjust to the way of life and I knew it
would take a lot of hard work to learn
the language.
Its been really hard for me to learn
Spanish, and it will take a lot more to
reach a truly great level. It will take
reading, it will take a lot of listening,
it will take a lot of speaking and it will
take a lot of classes with a competent
teacher for me to reach a level of
Spanish that Im truly happy with.
Just like anything else, it takes hard
work and discipline to learn a language
well. Do you have what it takes?
principales del este de Canad es el
Puente de la Confederacin, que une
la isla del Prncipe Eduardo con el
continente, cruzando el Estrecho de
Northumberland. Es el puente que cruza
aguas congeladas ms largo del mundo.
Hicieron falta ms de 5.000 personas
para construirlo. La construccin llev
4 aos. Hicieron falta mil millones de
dlares para completar el proyecto.
Hicieron falta 1,6 mil millones de kilos
de cemento para construirlo.
Cuando dej mi casa cerca del Puente
de la Confederacin para venirme a
Espaa, saba que hara falta un gran
esfuerzo para ajustarme al estilo de
vida y saba que aprender el idioma
requerira mucho trabajo.
Me ha costado un gran esfuerzo
aprender espaol, y har falta mucho
ms para alcanzar un nivel bueno
de verdad. Har falta leer, har falta
escuchar, har falta hablar y harn falta
clases con un profesor competente, para
que yo llegue a un nivel de espaol con
el que est verdaderamente contento.
Como con tantas cosas, hace falta
mucho trabajo y disciplina para
aprender bien un idioma. Tienes t lo
que hace falta para hacerlo?
1 Harn falta seis tcnicos para
arreglar el sistema.
2 Me sorprend de cuntos
trabajadores hicieron falta.
3 Hace falta mucha pintura para
cubrir la pared entera.
4 Tienes lo que hace falta?
Esta vez hicieron falta ms
5 trabajadores de los que suelen
(hacer falta).
INTERROGATIVE CHALLENGE!
Forma la pregunta en voz alta para la informacin en negrita:
1 The north side of the building took
the longest to paint.
2 It takes seven people to do it because
its complicated.
3 Itll take $7,000 to get the system up
and running.
4 Yes, it takes a lot of effort to learn
English.
5 It takes hard work and dedication to
learn it well.
,WZLOOWDNHVL[WHFKQLFLDQVWR[WKH
system.
I was surprised by how many
workers it took.
It takes a lot of paint to cover the
whole wall.
Do you have what it takes?
It took more workers this time than
it usually takes.
Which side of the building took the
longest to paint?
Why does it take seven people to
do it?
How much money will it take to get
the system up and running?
Does it take a lot of effort to learn
English?
What does it take to learn in well?

Ojo! Normalmente usamos la palabra trip OTHER USES: To take a left, a right
para decir viaje, y travel para decir viajar. You need to take a left at the next corner, and
Me fui de viaje - I took a trip. then take a right at the crossing.
Viaj por todo el mundo - I traveled around qu torcer a la izquierda en la esquina, y
Tienes que
the whole world. torc a la derecha en el cruce.
luego torcer

24 THE VERB CIRCUS LOS VERBOS ESENCIALES DEL INGLS 25