to take after
33
3.1
- phrasal verb
- /teɪk ˈæftər/
:
parecerse a
- You know who she takes after, of course.
- take after one's mother
- take after one's father
- take after one's dad
So who do you take after who you take after your mother.
- So who do you take after who you take after your mother.
Examples
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And unfortunately, Peter took after him in that regard.
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I wonder who I take after.
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I can see you take after your dear late mother.
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- She obviously takes after your side of the family.
-
- Yeah, she takes after you.
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I wonder how much you take after him.
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I wonder which one Ethan takes after.
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So what you're trying to say is, you take after your uncle.
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Annette was bold and took after her mother, a disdainful, aristocratic beauty, with a haughty manner.
Fiction book (1998) -
I can see that you take after your mother with those bright blue eyes.
Synonyms
∞
1.3
To have a similar appearance to someone or something
274
2.0
To be like another person or thing
Antonyms
How Similar
Surface Forms
Morphology
take + after
There is a detectable link between 'take' (to adopt or receive) and 'after' (following), so a learner might infer a sense of following or copying from the constituents. However, the specific phrasal-verb sense of resembling or emulating someone is a conventionalized extension not fully predictable from the literal parts, so learners typically need some exposure to be sure of the meaning.
Etymology
Take after may come from the simple image of a child following a parent so closely that people say the child 'takes' the parent's look or ways; the parts take and after give that picture. So, it means 'to resemble a relative'.