TO TAKE

TO TAKE

Every day I take. Yesterday I took. Lately Ive taken.

TRANSLATION CHALLENGE!

To take a shower, a bath, a pill, a break, etc.

Why not study one more page before taking a break?.
(YHU\PRUQLQJWKHUVWWKLQJ,GRLV
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
RIFHDWDQGKDYHDQRWKHUFXS
of coffee. (Yes, thats two cups of
coffee before 9:00 A lot of caffeine,
dont you think?)

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?)

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.

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.

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.

Pista de audio 02

Pista de audio 01

Uso 1. Tomar / Coger

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.

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

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

yet?

5 Yo que t, no tomara tantos

If I were you, I wouldnt take so

much medicine.

vacaciones que yo.

descanso an?

medicamentos.

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?

4 SusanLVJRLQJWRWDNHYDFDWLRQUVW

:KRLVJRLQJWRWDNHYDFDWLRQUVW"

5 I would take a break at 3:00 if I were

What time would you take a break

if you were me?

time.

you.

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

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

Every day I take. Yesterday I took. Lately Ive taken.

TRANSLATION CHALLENGE!

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 04

Pista de audio 03

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

you?

5 Te he llevado a sitios adonde no la

Ive taken you to places where I

didnt take her.

alguna vez?

llev (a ella).

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

ZKHQZHoUHQLVKHG"

2 Ive taken her out to dinner three

How many times have you taken

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?

ZHoUHQLVKHG

times.

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

Every day I take. Yesterday I took. Lately Ive taken.

Pista de audio 06

Pista de audio 05

Uso 3. Tardar

TRANSLATION CHALLENGE!

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.

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.

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!

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!

2QHWKLQJ,KDWHLVWUDIF,WXVXDOO\
takesPHDERXWIRUW\YHPLQXWHVWR
get to work in the morning, but when
WKHWUDIFLVEDGLWFDQtake me
almost an hour and a half.f.

$OJRTXHRGLRHVHOWUFR6XHOR
tardar cuarenta y cinco minutos en
llegar al trabajo por la maana, pero
FXDQGRKD\PXFKRWUFRSXHGR
tardar hasta una hora y media.

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

get to work.

2 Ella nunca ha tardado tanto tiempo

It has never taken her this long to

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.

5 l tard mucho tiempo en acostum-

It took him a long time to get used

to driving on the right.

llegar al trabajo.
en llegar a casa.

aprenderlo bien.

brarse a conducir por la derecha.

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?

3 It took her 45 minutes to get to the

How long did it take her to get to

WKHRIFH"

4 It takes a long time because it's

Why does it take a long time?

5 PeterWRRNWKHORQJHVWWRQLVKWKH

:KRWRRNWKHORQJHVWWRQLVKWKH
race?

used to the weather here.

RIFH

GLIFXOW.

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
FXDQGRKD\PXFKRWUDFR
decimos que hay pKHDY\WUDIFq,
pDORWRIWUDIFqo incluso bad
WUDIFq, (sin el artculo a/an).
22

THE VERB CIRCUS

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.

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.

To require or use resources.

It takes a lot of hard work to learn English well.
One of the main landmarks in Eastern
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?

Uno de los puntos de referencia

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.

Crees que puedes traducir mis 5 frases sin cometer un error? Tapa el ingls
1 Harn falta seis tcnicos para

,WZLOOWDNHVL[WHFKQLFLDQVWR[WKH
system.

2 Me sorprend de cuntos

I was surprised by how many

workers it took.

3 Hace falta mucha pintura para

It takes a lot of paint to cover the

whole wall.

4 Tienes lo que hace falta?

Do you have what it takes?

arreglar el sistema.

trabajadores hicieron falta.

cubrir la pared entera.

It took more workers this time than

it usually takes.

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

Which side of the building took the

longest to paint?

2 It takes seven people to do it because

Why does it take seven people to

do it?

3 Itll take $7,000 to get the system up

How much money will it take to get

the system up and running?

Como con tantas cosas, hace falta

mucho trabajo y disciplina para
aprender bien un idioma. Tienes t lo
que hace falta para hacerlo?

4 Yes, it takes a lot of effort to learn

Does it take a lot of effort to learn

English?

5 It takes hard work and dedication to

What does it take to learn in well?

para decir viaje, y travel para decir viajar.

Me fui de viaje - I took a trip.
Viaj por todo el mundo - I traveled around
the whole world.
THE VERB CIRCUS

TRANSLATION CHALLENGE!

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.

Ojo! Normalmente usamos la palabra trip

24

Pista de audio 08

Pista de audio 07

Uso 4. Hacer falta / Requerir

the longest to paint.

its complicated.

and running.
English.

learn it well.

OTHER USES: To take a left, a right

You need to take a left at the next corner, and
then take a right at the crossing.
qu torcer a la izquierda en la esquina, y
Tienes que
torc a la derecha en el cruce.
luego torcer
LOS VERBOS ESENCIALES DEL INGLS

25