Meaning & use
take a trip
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Meanings
phrasefixed phrase
To go somewhere and come back, usually for pleasure, a visit or a short errand.
Grammar: Verb changes for tense: we took a trip, she is taking a trip.
Patterns
- take a trip to somewhere
- take a trip with someone
- take a trip for something
We took a trip to the lake last weekend.
They are taking a trip to Lisbon in the spring.
I took a trip into town to buy some paint.
phrasefixed phrasefigurative
To spend time recalling or imagining a past time, often in a pleasant, nostalgic way.
Grammar: Usually figurative and followed by down or through: take a trip down memory lane.
Patterns
- take a trip down memory lane
- take a trip back in time
Looking at the old photos, we took a trip down memory lane.
The film lets you take a trip back to the 1980s.
Grandpa took a trip down memory lane while telling stories about his school.
Word forms
| third person singular | takes a trip |
|---|---|
| past tense | took a trip |
| past participle | taken a trip |
| -ing form | taking a trip |
Common combinations
- take a short trip
- Let us take a short trip to the beach.
- take a road trip
- They took a road trip across the country.
- take a business trip
- She takes a business trip to Berlin every month.
- take a trip abroad
- He saved up to take a trip abroad.
- take a day trip
- We took a day trip to the castle.
Synonyms and how they differ
- go on a trip
- Go on a trip means almost the same and is just as common, but it focuses on setting out rather than the act of doing it.
- travel
- Travel is wider and can mean any movement between places, while take a trip suggests one planned outing.
- make a journey
- Make a journey sounds longer and more serious, and it focuses on the distance covered.
- go for a drive
- Go for a drive is narrower, since it suggests traveling by car just for enjoyment.
Opposites
Word family
- trip noun
- a journey to a place and back
- tripper noun
- a person on a short pleasure outing, mainly British
- day-tripper noun
- someone who visits a place for one day
- round trip noun
- a journey there and back
Commonly confused: take a trip or take a tour?
take a trip vs take a tour
Take a tour suggests being shown around a place, while take a trip simply means going somewhere.
Practice
Last summer we decided to ______ a trip to the mountains.
Choose one answer.
Take a trip is the standard collocation. Make a trip is sometimes heard, but take is the natural verb for an ordinary outing, so the others are poorer choices.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “take a trip”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.