Take an exam means to sit it: to turn up and do the tasks. The expression says nothing about the result. Whether you succeeded or not is expressed with pass and fail. In British English you can also say sit an exam, and informally do an exam.
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take + an/the/your + exam; take an exam in + subject; sit an exam (BrE); pass / fail an exam
- I'm taking my final maths exam on Monday, so I'm revising every evening.
- Candidates who take the exam online must show their passport to the camera.
- She took the exam twice before she finally passed it.
What changed
First versionTomorrow I'm passing my history exam, so I can't come.
RevisionTomorrow I'm taking my history exam, so I can't come.
Pass can look like the general verb for exams, but it means to succeed and get a pass mark. I'm passing my history exam tomorrow sounds as if you already know you will pass. For the exam itself you need take: I'm taking my history exam.
Take an exam is about the student. When a teacher runs the exam, the verb is give: Our teacher gives us an exam at the end of every term. Writing the questions is set an exam in British English. So The teacher took the exam would mean the teacher sat it as a candidate.
Your turn
I ___ the exam last week, but I won't know if I passed until July.
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took — The person has already sat the exam but won't know the result until July, so took. Passed doesn't fit: it means the exam has already been passed, while the second half of the sentence says the result is still unknown.
Write about an exam you took recently or are about to take. Name the subject and say when it was or will be.
I'm taking my English exam next Friday, and I'm most nervous about the speaking part.
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