grammar · neutral

it took me + time + to + V

Band 4-5speakingtask2

Used to say how much time someone needed to do something.

Examples

“It took me two hours to finish the essay.”

“It took her ages to get used to the new job.”

“It took us only ten minutes to find a parking space.”

Band 8 sentence

“It took me nearly three hours to proofread the whole report carefully, but the improvements were obvious.”

Collocations

  • It took me + two hours + to finish

Common mistakes

It took me two hours finish the essay.→It took me two hours to finish the essay.

I spent two hours to finish the essay.→I spent two hours finishing the essay.

Say it for a higher band

5I spent two hours V-ing→6It takes me + time + to + V→7+it took me + time + to + V

Synonyms

I spent + time + V-ing

Easily confused

I spent two hours V-ing

“I spent two hours reading the article.”

It takes me + time + to + V

“It takes me thirty minutes to commute to school every day.”

Related words

subject + V(s) (simple present)have / has + past participlebe about to + base verbbe + V-ingso + adjective/adverb + that + clauseIf + present perfect, will + base verbNot only + clause, but also + clausewill have been + V-ing

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In Tenses

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