An explanation of the different meanings of the English phrasal verb 'take over' from a native speaker, with lots of examples in context
Hello and welcome to my website for English learners all about phrasal verbs where I explain their different meanings to help you understand, learn and use them.
In this post we are looking at the phrasal verb 'to take over', which is commonly used in business English and in the workplace. There are several different meanings that we will look at in this post, however as you will see, the overall themes of this phrasal verb are replacement and control. So without further ado, let's get started....
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TAKE OVER: KEY INFORMATION For an explanation of the terms in the table, click here
Usage | Common |
Number of meanings | 3 |
Past tense forms | Took over / Taken over |
Separable? | Yes |
MEANINGS (Click to jump to each one)
THE BASICS
Our nominated phrasal verb this week consists of the extremely common verb 'to take' followed by the particle 'over'.
The verb 'to take' is a widely used English verb which has various meanings, but the meanings that are significant for the idiomatic meanings of the phrasal verb 'take over' are...
To voluntarily get or acquire possession of something.
To carry or transport something from one place to another.
John took the flowers off the table.
Can everyone please take a copy and pass them on.
My Mum is taking me to the airport today.
Please could you take this carton to the warehouse.
Like 'take', the prepositional particle 'over' also has a few different meanings in English, including to move across or above a surface (preposition / adverb) and to be finished (adjective). Both of these are relevant to the meanings of the phrasal verb, which we will look at now. When used in phrasal verbs, the particle 'over' can convey different meanings, such as transfer (hand over), excess (boil over), overcoming (get over) and thoroughness (read over).
So, now that we have covered the basics, let's move on to the different meanings of the phrasal verb 'take over'....
MEANING 1: Literal
CEFR Language Level | B1 - Intermediate |
Usage | Common |
Where is it used? | Everywhere |
Potential synonyms | To bring over, to take, to take across, to deliver, to transfer |
Separable? | Yes |
The phrasal verb construction 'take over' is used regularly by English speakers in a literal sense to mean taking something or somebody from one place to another, which the speaker perceives as being across from where they are. The meaning of 'take' which applies here is the meaning 'to carry something or someone from one place to another' and the preposition 'over' then adds a directional element to mean across from where the speaker is.
Typical examples of this literal usage could be....
To take a document across an office to another person.
To give someone a lift in your car from one place to another.
To take something and deliver it somewhere.
The main idea here is that someone takes someone or something to another place, which is perceived by the speaker to be across or over from where they are. If the speaker perceives that the other place is below or above them (e.g. on a different floor in a building), it is more likely that they will use "take down" or "take up" instead. In some situations, the verbs 'to deliver' and 'to transfer' both serve as synonyms of this application.
When used in this way, it is very common to use it separably with the direct object between 'take' and 'over'. Also, don't forget the preposition 'to' is required to state the end destination.
John left his book here when he went back to Australia, so I said I would take it over with me the next time I go.
Can you take this file over to the CEO's office and ask her to sign it for me.
I am taking Lisa over to her mum's house today as her car isn't working.
Sally asked me to take the books over to the library before it closed.
I'll take the food over to Grandma's house this evening.
They took the supplies over to the shelter after the storm.
I've already taken the package over to the post office, so don't worry about it.
MEANING 2: To take control
CEFR Language Level | B2 - Upper intermediate |
Usage | Common |
Where is it used? | Everywhere |
Potential synonyms | To take charge of, to take control, to take on |
Separable? | Sometimes |
The first of the idiomatic meanings of 'take over' in this post is certainly the most commonly used among native speakers and means to take or to assume control of something from another person or entity.
In the business world the phrasal verb 'take over' is commonly used to talk about when one company purchases or acquires another company and therefore takes control of it. It is also very common to use the noun 'takeover' here instead of the verb. You may have heard the term 'acquisition' before, which is a synonym of the noun 'takeover'.
Company X has recently taken over company Y and as a result the share price has gone through the roof.
Company Z has recently been taken over and many of its employees have been made redundant.
Despite the shareholder's attempts to stop it, the company takeover is still going ahead this month.
We also use 'take over' to talk about when one employee in a business assumes another person of authority's job role, in other words they assume a role of responsibility or control from another person. A similar phrasal verb that can be used here is "to take on", however "take over" indicates that the person's new role is one of authority and control e.g. a manager or a director. Don't forget that the preposition 'as' is required here to say what the new role is.
A third variation of how 'take over' can be used in the world of business is specifically to do with shift work. In businesses and organisations which operate around the clock (24/7) and in which employees do shift work, we can use 'take over' to talk about when one person's shift ends and another employee starts their shift and replaces them. For this usage, the preposition 'from' is required to talk about the person who you are replacing.
Roger is leaving the company next month and so Helen is taking over his role as head of Finance.
John starts his shift at 7pm, so he will be taking over from Tim who finishes then.
Away from the business world, 'take over' is also used in other contexts and situations to mean to take control of something. Examples could include when one country invades another country and takes control of it or when a person's emotions become too intense and they can no longer control themselves from breaking down or crying.
After the accident I was so scared but then my adrenaline took over and I did what I had to do to make sure that everyone was safe.
In addition to the usage above, we can also use 'take over' to mean that something or someone becomes dominant in a situation. Good examples of this would be when someone dominates a conversation or when a bossy person starts to give out orders and take control in a situation. This gives us a nice segue into the third meaning, which is very similar.
As soon as Helen joined the conversation, she completely took over and nobody else was able to say anything!
MEANING 3: To become the most important or most dominant
CEFR Language Level | B2 - Upper Intermediate |
Usage | Medium |
Where is it used? | Everywhere |
Potential synonyms | To dominate, to become dominant |
Separable? | No |
So, we have already considered how 'take over' is commonly used to mean 'to take control' and this second meaning is actually very similar to it. Here, 'take over' means to become the most important or dominant in a given category or group.
This usage is often seen when talking about lists of the best, worst, biggest, smallest, richest etc and can therefore be seen across many different subject areas as diverse as sport, music and business. 'Take over' is used specifically to talk about when there is a change and someone or something new is in first position, effectively taking over first place in the list. Again, the prepositions 'as' and 'from' are required here in the same way as the first usage above.
India will soon take over from Japan as the world's third largest economy.
I remember when Manchester United took over as the top football team in the country.
Melbourne has recently taken over Sydney as Australia's most populous city.
EXTRA TIPS TO SOUND MORE LIKE A NATIVE SPEAKER
An alternative synonym to this second meaning of 'take over' is the verb 'to overtake'. One of the main uses of this verb is to talk about when something takes over something else to become the first in its category, as discussed above. Unlike 'take over' though, when we use 'overtake' we need to have a direct object to state who or what was previously in front and has now been overtaken. The preposition 'as' is still required here but 'from' is not required as we have a direct object.
India will soon overtake Japan as the world's third largest economy.
Melbourne has recently overtaken Sydney as Australia's most populous city.
The second main use of 'overtake' is used when driving and means to move past a car that is in front of you by driving around it, normally because it is going too slowly. Again, this carries the same meaning as the third meaning of 'take over' i.e. to move past something and be in front of it.
The car in front was driving very slowly, so I decided to overtake it.
The rules of overtaking in Formula 1 racing are being reviewed.
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 over'. If you enjoyed this post, please go ahead and check out some of my other posts.
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