grammar · informal
It took + somebody + [time] + to + V
Says how much time someone needed to do something.
Examples
“It took me three hours to finish the report.”
“It took the team nearly a year to prepare the exhibition.”
“Learning to cook properly took him a long time.”
Band 8 sentence
“It took the research team nearly two years to collect sufficient data to draw robust conclusions.”
Collocations
- It took + somebody + X time
- take someone a long time
Common mistakes
I spent two hours to finish it.→I spent two hours finishing it.
It took me two hours doing it.→It took me two hours to do it.
It took for me three days to finish.→It took me three days to finish.
Say it for a higher band
5I spent + [time] + V-ing→6I needed + [time] + to + V→7+It took + somebody + [time] + to + V
Synonyms
I spent + time + V-ing
Easily confused
I spent + [time] + V-ing
“I spent three hours reading the research papers.”
Related words
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In Opening & closing ideas
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