Talking About Time: Using ‘It Takes’

1 Introduction: A New Way to Talk About Time

You already know how to say ‘I spend time doing something’. Now you will learn a new way to talk about time.

When we say ‘it takes time’, we talk about how long a task needs. This means we describe the time necessary for an action. For example: ‘It takes two hours to finish the report.’ This is different from ‘I spend two hours finishing the report.’

With ‘I spend time’, you are the subject. You do the action. With ‘it takes time’, the subject is ‘it’. The focus is on the task, not on you. Both sentences talk about time, but the grammar is different.

You can also make it personal. You say ‘it takes me’ plus the time. For example: ‘It takes me 30 minutes to write an email.’ This shows how long YOU need for the task.

2 Deep Dive: Understanding ‘It Takes’

Let’s look closely at how to use ‘it takes’ correctly. Remember, we use ‘it’ as the subject, not ‘I’. You can add ‘me’, ‘him’, ‘her’, ‘us’, or ‘them’ after ‘takes’ to show who does the action.

You can use this form in different times: present, past, and future. The verb ‘take’ changes: ‘takes’, ‘took’, ‘will take’. You can also make questions with this form.

3 See It in Action: Business Examples

4 Key Points Summary

Now you know how to use ‘it takes’ to talk about time and tasks. Remember these important points.

Use ‘it takes’ when you want to describe how long a task needs. The subject is always ‘it’, not ‘I’. Add ‘me’, ‘you’, ‘him’, ‘her’, ‘us’, or ‘them’ after ‘takes’ to make it personal. For example: ‘It takes me 20 minutes to drive to work.’

Change the verb for different times. Present: ‘it takes’. Past: ‘it took’. Future: ‘it will take’. You can make questions too: ‘How long does it take?’, ‘How long did it take?’, ‘How long will it take?’

Common time words to use: a few minutes, ages, not long, a long time, hours, days, weeks. Practice using these forms when you talk about your work tasks.

5 Page Recap

This page taught you a new way to talk about time in business English. You learned the difference between ‘I spend time doing’ and ‘it takes time to do’. Both are useful, but they have different grammar.

The key form is ‘it takes’ with ‘it’ as the subject. You can make it personal by adding ‘me’ or other pronouns. You learned three time forms: ‘it takes’ (present), ‘it took’ (past), and ‘it will take’ (future). You also learned how to ask questions: ‘How long does it take?’

You saw many examples of these forms in business situations. You can now describe how long tasks need at work. Practice using ‘it takes’ when you talk about your daily work activities.