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Glite Dictionary
to take one's time

to take one's time

3.5
To do something slowly and carefully without hurrying
  • phrasal verb
translation icon : tomarse su tiempo
  • You should take your time to read the instructions carefully before starting the project.

Examples

Synonyms

to take one's sweet time
vsto take one's time
  • Informal
3 7.5

Do something slowly on purpose and without hurry

is slow and careful without causing unnecessary delay
to take your sweet time
vsto take one's time
  • Informal
1 7.6

To do something slowly without hurrying, often slower than others expect

is slower for careful work rather than intentionally delaying

Antonyms

to hurry
∞ 1.0

To move or act quickly because there is little time

rush
1 4.1

Done quickly under pressure with less care than usual

How Fast

to rush
403 1.0
to hurry
∞ 1.0
to take one's time
3.5
to take one's sweet time
  • Informal
3 7.5
to dawdle
17 5.0

Surface Forms

take one's time infinitive
took one's time past
taken one's time past participle
taking one's time present participle
takes one's time third person singular

Morphology

take + one + time

The meaning 'to do something slowly and carefully' is directly derivable from combining 'take' (to use or occupy), the possessive 'one's' (referring to the person's own), and 'time' (a span allotted), so the action of using one's time implies not hurrying. This verb + possessive + noun pattern is common and has clear equivalents in many languages (e.g. French prendre son temps, Spanish tomarse su tiempo), making it easily understandable to a B1 learner who knows the constituent words.

Etymology

The phrase take one's time uses take meaning 'to use or hold' and time meaning 'minutes or hours'. Imagine a person choosing to take a few minutes so they work slowly and do not rush. So, it means 'to do something slowly and carefully'.