Meaning & use
taking life for granted
Last updated
Meaning
phraseidiom
The habit of not appreciating your life and the good things in it because you expect them to always be there.
Grammar: Used as a noun phrase; it can be the subject or object of a sentence, and often follows 'without'.
Patterns
- taking life for granted
- without taking life for granted
- stop taking life for granted
After his illness, he realized he had been taking life for granted.
Taking life for granted can make you unhappy even when things are going well.
She wrote a book about not taking life for granted after her trip abroad.
Common combinations
- without taking life for granted
- He tries to live each day without taking life for granted.
- stop taking life for granted
- Her advice was simple: stop taking life for granted.
- accused of taking life for granted
- The younger generation is often accused of taking life for granted.
Synonyms and how they differ
- ungrateful
- This adjective describes a person who does not show thanks, while 'taking life for granted' is a phrase about a habit or attitude.
- unappreciative
- Similar meaning but more formal and less common; it focuses on not recognizing value, not on expecting things to continue.
Opposites
Word family
- take for granted phrase
- The base idiom meaning to expect something without appreciation.
- granted adverb
- Used in 'take for granted' to mean assumed or given.
Commonly confused: taking life for granted or taking for granted?
taking life for granted vs taking for granted
This is the general phrase; 'taking life for granted' specifies that life is the thing not appreciated.
Practice
Which sentence uses the phrase correctly?
Choose one answer.
'Takes life for granted' is the correct word order and meaning. Option An adds 'about', which is not used; option C gives a wrong definition; option D separates the idiom unnaturally.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “taking life for granted”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.