The Phrasal Verb 'Take On' Explained
- Phrasal Verbs Explained
- Sep 1, 2023
- 12 min read
Updated: Jun 5
An explanation of the different meanings of the English phrasal verb 'take on' from a native speaker, with lots of examples in context
Hello and welcome to my website all about English phrasal verbs. Each week, I take a different phrasal verb and look at how it is used by native speakers, with a focus on the different meanings that it has and the expressions and idioms that it is used in.
The phrasal verb 'take on' is a commonplace and diverse phrasal verb, in both the field of business English and general English. As such, you may already be familiar with at least one of its meanings. In this post we will cover the different uses that it has in English, as well as the classic 80s song that it features in (although used slightly incorrectly). So, without further ado, let's get started....
TABLE OF CONTENTS (Click to jump to each one)
The Basics: Key information and the individual words 'take' and 'on'
Meaning 1: Literal
Meaning 2: To employ someone
Meaning 3: To accept to undertake a land or role
Meaning 4: To oppose someone or compete against them
Meaning 5: To acquire a quality
Meaning 6: To admit passengers (onto public transport)
Meaning 7: To show emotion
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THE BASICS
TAKE ON: KEY INFORMATION
Usage | Common |
Number of meanings | 7 |
Separable? | Yes |
Past forms | Took on / Taken on |
As per usual, before we look at the different meanings of 'take on', let's quickly look at the individual words which make it up.
Firstly, we have the verb 'to take', which I am sure will be very familiar to all of you. The verb 'to take' is extremely common and has a plethora of different uses and meanings in English such as to move something, to remove something from a place and also to accept something, which is the meaning that is relevant for the phrasal verb 'take on'.
Secondly, we have the prepositional particle 'on', which has a large number of applications in English too, but perhaps the most relevant definition of it here is 'to be in contact with and supported by something'.
So, now we have briefly looked at those, let's get started and see what the wonderful phrasal verb 'take on' actually means....
MEANING 1: Literal
CEFR Language Level | A1 - Beginner |
Usage | Medium |
Where is it used? | Everywhere |
Potential synonyms | To carry on |
Separable? | Yes |
The first meaning of 'take on' that we will look at is the literal meaning of the combination of the two words 'take' and 'on', which is 'to transport or carry something with you when you are moving onto something'.
This can be used with any noun for something that we can be 'on', however most of the time we use it in relation to mass transportation such as airplanes and trains, in a similar way to how we use the phrasal verb 'carry on'. It is also very common to use the similar preposition 'onto' here, without a change in meaning.
The following items are strictly prohibited and must not be taken on a British Airways aircraft under any circumstance....
I am going to take my book on the train with me so that I can read during the journey.
MEANING 2: To employ someone
CEFR Language Level | B2 - Upper intermediate |
Usage | Common |
Where is it used? | Everywhere (Business English) |
Potential synonyms | To employ, to hire |
Separable? | Yes |
We are starting the non-literal meanings of 'take on' with a business English usage, which is 'to employ or hire someone to work for you or your business'.
This can normally be used interchangeably with the verb 'to hire' when talking about the process of advertising for, interviewing and employing new employees. Furthermore, it is used in businesses of all sizes, from huge multinational companies to sole traders who decide that they need some help in their business.
As with most of the meanings that we will cover in this post, 'take on' is used transitively here, i.e. with a direct object, and it is absolutely fine to put the direct object (the new employee) either between 'take' and 'on' or after them both, which affects neither the meaning nor the intention.
So, we have mentioned that businesses 'take on' new employees, however you should be aware that this can be used in a passive sense too; native speakers who have recently started new jobs often say that "they have been taken on by a company" instead of saying that they have been employed.
We are looking to take on a new science teacher as one of our current teachers is on long-term sick leave.
The company first took John on as an administrative clerk back in 2003 and now he is one of the company directors.
Sorry, we are not taking on any new members of staff at the moment but please continue to monitor the Careers section of our website, in which any new job vacancies will be posted.
My daughter has been taken on as trainee photographer with the local newspaper.
MEANING 3: To accept to undertake a task or role
CEFR Language Level | B2 - Upper Intermediate |
Usage | Common |
Where is it used? | Everywhere |
Potential synonyms | To undertake, to accept |
Separable? | Yes |
For meaning number three of 'take on', we are going to stay with business English as the meaning of it is 'to accept or undertake to do a role'. As you may have worked out, this third meaning is really just a shift in perspective from the employer to the employee, however there are some differences and they are not exact opposites....
In the first meaning, the use of 'take on' is limited to when a company hires a new employee from outside the company, i.e. they did not work for the company before. However, in this second meaning, where the perspective is shifted to the employee, it is used to express the action of accepting a new, often better, job within the same company, or alternatively accepting additional responsibilities and tasks in an existing job.
It is also possible to use this to talk about accepting a job in a new company, or to talk about 'taking on' second jobs outside of your main work e.g. part time work in a restaurant at weekends. The central idea here is that you are accepting to do work, or more work than you currently do.
My colleague is leaving the company in two weeks and I have agreed to take on some of her responsibilities until we can find a replacement for her.
Due to changes in the management structure, we are pleased to announce that Lisa Smith will be taking on the role of Head of Export and we wish her every success this.
Helen was struggling financially and had to take on a part time job as a waitress in a restaurant at weekends in order to make ends meet*.
* To make ends meet is a an idiom that means to make just enough money to survive.
MEANING 4: To oppose someone or compete against them
CEFR Language Level | B2 - Upper intermediate |
British or American? | Both |
Where is it used? | Everywhere |
Potential synonyms | To oppose, to compete against |
Separable? | Yes |
The fourth meaning of 'take on' means to oppose someone or something, or alternatively, it can mean to compete against them.
In the sense of opposing something, we use 'take on' when there is something that we do not agree with or want to stop and therefore we take action in order to makethis happen. It is worth noting here that usually we use this when the person or thing that we are opposing is much bigger or powerful than us in some way. An example of this would be if a person or group of people decides to oppose something that a large multi-national company with billions of dollars is planning to do. In this instance we would say that "they are taking on the company" as the company is much more powerful than the person / group.
As I mentioned, we can use 'take on' to talk about entering into competition with someone too. This is used a lot to talk about sporting matches and fixtures but can apply to any competitions where people compete directly against each other. The idea that the opponent is bigger or more powerful also applies here, but it is not always the case and 'take on' can equally be used to describe an ordinary match or competition without a big power imbalance.
A common expression used with this meaning is 'to take on the might of*' when a so-called lesser or smaller opponent agrees to compete against or oppose a larger one.
The women took on their company in an attempt to get equal pay and after a long legal battle, they won!
Accrington Stanley FC are taking on the might of Manchester United in the lunchtime football game tomorrow.
The British champion will take on the best long distance runners in the world next week in the London marathon.
* To avoid any confusion, 'might' here is a noun meaning 'power' and is not being used as a modal verb of probability.
MEANING 5: To acquire a quality
CEFR Language Level | C1 - Advanced |
Usage | Medium |
Where is it used? | Everywhere |
Potential synonyms | To acquire |
Separable? | Yes |
The fifth meaning of 'take on' is to 'acquire a quality or, in the case of words, a new meaning'. The idea of 'take on' here is that an object acquires or absorbs something, which then changes or adds an additional quality to it.
In order to understand this meaning, I think it is helpful to think of an item as a collection of qualities. For example, let's imagine our item is a regular tomato soup and its qualities are that it is hot, red, tasty and filling. If we add some chilli flakes to it, it also becomes spicy and so we can then say that after adding the chilli flakes, the soup takes on a spicy quality too. In other words, the soup has absorbed the chilli, which has now changed it.
To give you another example, you will have seen a chameleon in the gif for this section and the reason for this is that it is a case in point of something which acquires or 'takes on' the qualities of its environment and in the end resembles it.
'Take on' in this sense can also be used to talk about people, food, situations, stories or anything else where one thing can be integrated or absorbed into another, causing the original thing to change accordingly.
The word 'gay' primarily used to mean happy and cheerful but during the twentieth century it took on a completely different meaning.
The party was really crazy to begin with but it took on a much more relaxed feel after some of the younger people went off to another party.
A large amount of dust from the Sahara desert caused the sky to take on a yellowish colour over much of northern Europe last week.
MEANING 6: To admit passengers (onto public transport)
CEFR Language Level | B2 - Upper intermediate |
Usage | Rare |
Where is it used? | Everywhere |
Potential synonyms | To admit, to board |
Separable? | Yes |
The sixth meaning of 'take on' is a rarer meaning that is limited to public transport and it means specifically to stop and allow new passengers to board a vessel. This can be used with airplanes buses and trains, however I think it is most commonly used with boats and ships.
In addition to 'taking on' passengers, it is also possible to 'take on' goods and cargo.
Furthermore, If a ship or boat is damaged and has a hole in it, leading it to slowly fill with water, we say that the boat is 'taking on water'. Moreover, 'to take on water' is also an idiomatic expression used to describe a situation which is becoming more difficult or hazardous or when problems start arising which could cause you to fail in what you are doing.
The cruise ship will stop in Montego Bay tomorrow to take on passengers and supplies.
The crew sounded the alarm as soon as they realised that the boat was taking on water and they needed help.
IDIOM ALERT: TO TAKE SOMETHING ON BOARD
I know that I have just given you a boat-based idiom with 'take on', but there is a second one that I want to tell you about.
To take something on board is an idiomatic expression that we use and means 'to fully consider a new piece of information in order to understand and accept it'. The origins of this idiom arose from the need to thoroughly check cargo at seaports before it was accepted and loaded onto a ship, however these days we use it in many different situations.
The radio DJ has taken on board the complaints that he received for his bad language and has promised to avoid using it in future.
Whenever my wife is mad or upset with me, I always try to think about why and take it on board, so that I can avoid arguments in the future.
MEANING 7: To show emotion
CEFR Language Level | C1 - Advanced |
Usage | Rare |
Where is it used? | Everywhere |
Potential synonyms | To get upset, to get emotional |
Separable? | No |
The seventh meaning of 'take on' is a rare meaning that means to show emotion, which is normally negative such as crying and sadness.
On a grammatical level, this application of 'take on' is unique compared to the others as it is the only meaning which is intransitive and does not take a direct object. As such, if a person is emotional, we would just say that they were 'taking on' with no need for an object.
As I said above, this is certainly a rare meaning that I think is perhaps more literary and perhaps slightly archaic and it is not one that I use or hear people use in everyday English. Nevertheless, it is always good to know these things 😃.
What are you taking on for? There is no reason to be sad or upset.
MEANING 8: To do something without approval or permission
CEFR Language Level | C1 - Advanced |
Where is it used? | Everywhere |
British or American? | Both |
Separable? | Always |
Now we come to our final meaning of the phrasal verb 'take on' and well done for making it this far! This last meaning is more of a common expression than an entire meaning, so I decided to dedicate a section to it as it is a useful one to be aware of.
The expression here is 'to take it (up)on oneself to do something' and it means to decide to do something without approval or permission from other people. In other words, if you take it on yourself to do something, you decide that you are going to do something, or perhaps give yourself a responsibility of some sort, without checking with other people first.
There are two variations of this expression which are 'to take it on yourself' and 'to take it upon yourself', which both mean exactly the same. Its just a matter of personal choice whether you choose 'on' or 'upon', however personally I prefer the 'upon' version, which is the one I use more frequently and is the more commonly used of the two variations in general.
I had all of the wedding preparations under control but then my mother took it upon herself to start arranging the seating plan for the wedding breakfast.
Our HR manager has taken it on himself to arrange a charity event to raise money for a good cause.
TAKE ON ME! LET'S GO BACK TO THE 80s
I couldn't finish this blog post without a little nod to a classic 1980s track featuring an amazing video that captivated me when I was very small : Take on Me by A-ha.
Despite how well-known and successful this song is, it is quite interesting to note that the title and main lyric of the song 'take on me' is not actually grammatically correct and does sound wrong to a native speaker's ears. The reason for this is that the direct object pronoun (me) needs to go in the middle of the phrasal verb, i.e. 'take me on'. They also do sing the correct lyrics in the song, so they are forgiven; obviously the choice of words is just poetic licence for effect. Anyway, here is the video if you want to check it out.
We have now reached the end of this post and I just want to say thank you for clicking on my post and reading it. I hope that you've enjoyed it and have been able to learn something new about the phrasal verb 'take on'. If you enjoyed this post, please go ahead and check out some of my other posts.
Now it is YOUR turn. Can you think of a sentence yourself using 'take on'. Write it in the comments section below if you can, or alternatively any comments, suggestions or feedback that you may have....don't be shy!!!
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THE END
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