What Idioms to Focus on

Are you at your wits’ end feeling desperate over which idioms to study for TOEFL?

Learning specific idioms with “take” improves performance on TOEFL and IELTS since these standardized tests are formatted with certain common English expressions.

The challenge for the test-taker comes in understanding the meaning of an idiom in the context of a passage or lecture. Some expressions seem to mean something different than what you might think.

Beat the Test

Improve your skill set of common take idioms. Knowing these expressions helps you understand TOEFL written passages and audio clips where your comprehension skills are tested. You’ll raise your competency by comprehending more details, which in turn, sets you up as a better test performer.

Examples in Context

Get to know these “take” idioms by familiarizing yourself with the examples in context. Dedicate study time to practicing them since they appear on TOEFL again and again. You’ll be at an advantage to get higher scores.

Take on	I’ll take it on if no one else can complete the task.
Take notice	The boss began to take notice of the worker’s productivity.
Take great pains to do something	The parents went through great pains to ensure their daughter had enough money for university.
Take one at one’s word	The cashier took the customer at his word when he described why he returned the product.
Take one by surprise	The rebels took the army by surprise.
Take one’s time	Let’s take our time to get the project done right.
Take one’s turn	Wait until everyone has taken their turn.
Take someone at one’s word	She invited me to come stay at her place in Rome, so I took her at her word.
Take one’s word for it	I took his word for it when he said he had had an accident.
Take someone or something for granted	It’s easy to take parents for granted until they’re gone. / I took my health for granted until the day I got sick.
Take someone or something at face value	I take everything she says at face value. / The committee took the report at face value and approved the changes.
Take someone or something into account	They’ll take his years of service into account when he’s evaluated for a raise. / She’ll try to take into account all the important things.
Take someone or something seriously	If you don’t take the work seriously, you’ll be fired.
Take something into consideration	They will take your experience into consideration when they decide who gets the job.
Take something lightly	I’ve learned to take my work lightly as there are more important things to worry about.
Take something with a grain of salt	His advice should be taken with a grain of salt since he doesn’t have much experience in the matter.
Take a beating	In 2008, the stock market took a beating.
Take a dive	The market took a dive after England’s exit from the EU.
Take it easy	Take it easy after a long day of work.
Take it easy on	Take it easy on him for missing work as his mother just died.
Take one’s chances	Take your chances on oil and gold in the market.
Take the floor	He took the floor speaking about pollution.
Take the helm	She took the helm as CEO of the company.
Take the initiative	The broker took the initiative to buy the stocks early when the market opened.

Step Up Fluency

You can even get practice using these expressions in business communication.

Now that you’ve got 24 new idioms under your belt, you’re a step ahead in fluency. Be confident on your next TOEFL that you’ll understand idiomatic meanings in context when these idioms surface on the exam.

If you were able to use these take idioms in context, feel free to Like this post.