Take time means to need a lot of time: Learning a language takes time. Its second meaning is to give time to something and not rush it: Take time to check your answers. To say exactly how much time something needed, use it takes: It took me an hour.
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something takes time; it takes + person + time + to + verb; take time to + verb; take your time
- Learning to cook well takes time, so don't expect perfect results at first.
- It took us almost two days to drive from Berlin to Rome.
- Please take time to read the contract carefully before you sign it.
What changed
First versionIt took me three hours for writing this essay.
RevisionIt took me three hours to write this essay.
For writing may seem natural here, but in the pattern it takes me + time, the action is added with to + verb: took me three hours to write. The correction replaces for writing with to write.
Take your time means “don't rush, do it calmly”: Take your time, there's no rush. Take time off means to have a break from work. Spend time, on the other hand, has a person as the subject: I spend an hour a day reading.
Your turn
It ___ me forty minutes to get to the office by bus every morning.
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takes — A sentence that starts with it needs take: it takes me forty minutes. Spend needs a person as the subject: I spend forty minutes on the bus. It spends me is a mistake.
Think of something that took longer than you expected: a move, a renovation, getting documents. Say how long it took and why, using it took me.
It took me three weeks to get my visa because the embassy asked for two extra documents.
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