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to take to be

to take to be

20 3.9
Think someone or something is a certain thing
  • phrasal verb
  • /teɪk tə bi/
translation icon : considerar
  • As such, the public was taken to be both critical and rational.
  • take to be true
  • often taken to be
  • generally taken to be

Much of what we take to be real is, is, is fictions.

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Examples

  • I've seen what it takes to be a top spy, and I think I can be of better use to the world by just being the best me.

  • However, none presents what we take to be a complete picture.

    Academic text (1999)
  • Then he said something in his own language that she took to be a thank you.

    Fiction book (1995)
  • Which one of those do you take to be what morality demands?

  • What I took to be deep and mysterious has just turned out to be really sad and unhappy.

  • The center of the room was taken up by what Laurent took to be a large swimming pool.

    Fiction book (2001)
  • There followed a brief conversation in what I took to be Romanian.

    Fiction book (2001)
  • Our true potential lies considerably beyond what we have taken to be our norm.

    Academic text (1991)
  • Here's what I take to be the climactic paragraph in in Bohr's paper.

  • Many people take to be the news true without verifying the facts.

Synonyms

to think of
vsto take to be
834 1.0

See someone or something in a certain way

is more about assuming their nature rather than recalling them
to regard as
vsto take to be
157 3.3

To think of someone or something as a certain thing

is a looser assumption rather than a definite judgment
to take someone for
vsto take to be
129 5.5

To think someone is a certain type of person, often wrongly

is a general assumption without the usual mistaken emphasis
to look upon
vsto take to be
60 3.7

To think of someone or something in a certain way

is used for a lighter assumption about identity or quality
to look on
vsto take to be
15 3.3

To think of someone or something in a certain way

is more about assuming identity or properties without proof
to esteem
vsto take to be
14 4.6

To have respect for someone because of what they do

is a plain judgment about identity rather than high respect
to repute
vsto take to be
1 7.0

Thought by many people to have a certain quality or to have done something

is a more general assumption, not necessarily a reputation claim

Antonyms

332 3.0

To refuse to accept an idea or claim

How Certain

to know
1.0
to believe
1.0
to take to be
20 3.9
to assume
3.2
to suppose
2.7

Surface Forms

take to be infinitive
taking to be present participle
takes to be third person singular
took to be past
taken to be past participle

Morphology

take + to + be

The meaning is directly compositional: 'take' in the sense 'regard/interpret' combined with the infinitival 'to be' yields 'regard/suppose X to be Y'. This is a regular, cross-linguistic pattern (compare 'consider X to be' / 'considerar X como'), so a B1 learner who knows the constituent meanings should be able to derive the MWE meaning.

Etymology

The phrase take to be is like putting a name tag on someone: you take a person and use be to call them 'doctor' or 'sister'. That's why it means 'to regard someone as' or 'to assume'.