What is the Difference Between the word Took and Taken? (Learn How To Use)

When writing “to take” in the past tense, such as when you say, “I took that,” you should use the verb “took.” As “I have taken that” is proper, the past participle taken should be used whenever the auxiliary verb has present.

“Took” is the simple past tense when used. It implies that nothing else is required to complete the phrase to be correct. The past participle “taken” must be used with an auxiliary verb, such as “had” or “was,” to be effective.

Keep on reading for more information!

What Do You Mean By “Took”?

The verb “to take” has the past tense form “took.” The word “take” can signify various things depending on the context.

Still, it usually refers to grabbing hold of something, getting it, or moving someone or something from one area to another. For instance:

• “I took the book off the shelf.”
• She took some water.
• I took hold of the book that was on the shelf.
• He took his daughter to the park.
• She took some water, which she drank.

Sometimes, the word “took” refers to swift or decisive action. For instance:

• “She took control of the circumstance.
• She instantly took charge of the circumstance.
• He took the chance to request a raise. (i.e., he made a quick decision and requested a raise when the chance arose)

The word “took” is a past tense one that generally denotes a swift or decisive action to get or move something or someone.

What Do You Mean By “Taken”? 

The past tense of the word “take” is “taken.” Similar to the past tense word “took,” “taken” can signify various things depending on the situation.

In most cases, the word “taken” denotes a prior action that involved gaining or relocating something or someone.

As an illustration, say, “She has taken a drink of water” signifying that the process of getting and consuming the water is already finished.

The verb “taken” can also be used in passive voice sentences, meaning that the subject receives the action rather than performs it.

As an illustration, say, “The book was taken from the shelf.” (indicating that someone else took the action of taking the book from the shelf). “Many people have taken the chance.” (i.e., many individuals took the opportunity by securing it)

In general, “taken” is the past participle form of the verb “take,” signifying a past action of getting or transferring something or someone, or a passive voice structure where the subject receives the action.

Are “Took” And “Taken” the Same?

Although closely related, the verbs “took” and “taken” differ.

The simple past tense of the verb “take” is “took,” which denotes that action was finished in the past. For instance, saying, “I took the book from the shelf,” denotes a specific past action of taking the book.

As opposed to “take,” which is used to construct the present perfect, past perfect, and passive voice tenses, “taken” is the past participle form of the verb. If you say, “I have taken the book off the shelf,” for instance, it signifies that you started taking the book at some point in the past and have finished it now.

The passive voice, as in “The book was taken off the shelf,” denotes that another person took the book.

Hence, even though “took” and “taken” are similar forms of the verb “take,” they are employed in various grammatical contexts and have slightly different meanings.

Some Examples Of Took And Taken

The verb “take” has two different tenses: “took” is its past tense, while “taken” is its past participle. These are some instances of the words “took” and “taken” in various contexts:

The Difference Between “Took” And “Taken”

The verb “take,” frequently employed in English, comes in two separate forms: took and taken. The following are the primary distinctions between took and taken:

Form

The past tense of the word “take” is “took.” The past tense of the word “take” is “taken.”

Function

When describing an activity that happened in the past and is now finished, the word “took” is used. For example, “He took the book from the shelf.

The perfect tenses, such as the present perfect or past perfect, are created with the verb taken. For example, “I have taken the mid-term test,” or “She had taken medicine before evening”

Auxiliary Verbs

There is no need for an auxiliary verb with took. It is considered a verb “to take” in the past tense.

With auxiliary verbs, taken is frequently combined to create the perfect tenses. For instance, “I have taken the dog today.”

Voice, Active Or Passive

Both the active and passive voices can be used with took and taken. For example, “Ryan took the picture” (active) or “The picture was taken by Ryan” (passive).

Most commonly, taken is used in the passive voice. For instance, “All pupils have taken the test.”

Ultimately, the primary distinction between took and taken is how each word is formed and used in various grammatical structures and tenses.

What Do You Mean By “Have Taken” or “Have Took”?

We employ auxiliary verbs like “had” when writing in the past participle, as we mentioned before. This indicates that the only acceptable form is “have taken.”

Using a verb like “had” before “took” makes no sense because it is a verb in and of itself. If “taken” is to make sense in a sentence, having must come before it.

Final Thoughts

• The verb “take” has two different tenses: “took” is its past tense, while “taken” is its past participle.
• Took” is the simple past tense when used.
• It implies that nothing else is required to complete the phrase to be correct.
• The word “took” is a past tense one that generally denotes a swift or decisive action that was taken to get or move something or someone.
• The past participle “taken” must be used with an auxiliary verb, such as “had” or “was,” to be effective.
• In most cases, the word “taken” denotes a prior action that involved gaining or relocating something or someone.

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