How to Use Took or Taken (Irregular Verb Forms)

First published on January 14, 2023 by Dalia Y.|Last revised on October 26, 2025

Taken (not the Liam Neeson movie) is the past participle form of take. Take is the present tense, and took is the past tense.

Past Tense Of

How to Use Took or Taken (Irregular Verb Forms)

Take used in text conversation. Made by Gflex on Canva. — *The verb take* demonstrated in text conversation. By *Gflex* on Canva.

What's the past tense of "take"?

The simple past tense of take is took, and the past participle is taken. The verb take follows an irregular conjugation pattern, with three distinct forms: take (present), took (past), and taken (past participle).

Definition of take

The Oxford Learner's Dictionary defines take as "to move something or someone from one place to another, or to grasp or hold something."

The past tense of take is took.
The past participle of take is taken.

Verb forms of 'take'

Simple Cont. Perfect Perfect Cont.

Present

I/you/they take • He/she/it takes

Past

I/you/they took • He/she/it took

Future

I/you/they will take • He/she/it will take

Present

I am/you are taking • He/she/it is taking

Past

I was/you were taking • He/she/it was taking

Future

I/you will be taking • He/she/it will be taking

Present

I/you have taken • He/she/it has taken

Past

I/you had taken • He/she/it had taken

Future

I/you will have taken • He/she/it will have taken

Present

I have been taking • He/she/it has been taking

Past

I had been taking • He/she/it had been taking

Future

I will have been taking • He/she/it will have been taking

Is "take" a regular or irregular verb?

The verb take is irregular. Its past tense form is took (not "taked") and its past participle is taken (not "tooked"). This irregular pattern is shared with a group of verbs that undergo vowel changes from their base form, such as give/gave/given, begin/began/begun, and sing/sang/sung.

When to use took vs. taken

We took the train to the city yesterday.

She has has taken that flight many times.

The verb take uses different forms for simple past tense and past participle. When used as a participle (shown in the second sentence), it requires an auxiliary verb like have, has, or had. The simple past doesn't use a helper verb since it's a complete tense, so took can stand alone in sentences, whereas participles require an auxiliary verb.

Similar irregular verbs

Like take, these irregular verbs follow the pattern where all three forms (present, past, past participle) are different.

take

Past: took

Past part: taken

Sentence examples: take, took, taken

Take (present tense)

• I take my dog on a walk every morning.

• Don't forget to take an extra pair of shoes.

• She takes her vitamins every day.

Took (past simple)

• We took him to catch his train yesterday.

• Bank robbers took the manager hostage overnight.

• The steps took us up to a cave in the cliff.

Taken (present or past perfect)

• She has has taken that flight many times.

• He was was taken to the hospital by ambulance.

• I have already have taken a look at the document.

Synonyms & nearby words

Synonyms for take

grasp seize carry bring transport hold

Nearby phrases

take away take back take off take in take out take on

Origin of the verb take

Late Old English tacan "to take, seize," from a Scandinavian source (such as Old Norse taka "take, grasp, lay hold," past tense tok, past participle tekinn; Swedish ta, past participle tagit), from Proto-Germanic *takan-.

Practice: Take, took, or taken

FAQs

What's the simple past of take?

The simple past form of the verb 'take' is 'took'. It is used for past actions and doesn't end in -ed. For example: "We took my mother for a drive."

What's taken?

'Taken' is the past participle form of 'take'. Participle forms use auxiliary or helper verbs (like has, was, have) to create other tenses like the present perfect or past perfect.

Took vs. taken: what's the difference?

'Took' is the simple past tense, used alone. 'Taken' is the past participle form and requires auxiliary verbs (like have, had, was) to form perfect tenses or passive sentences.

Is "have you took" correct?

No, "have you took" is not correct English. The verb 'have' requires the past participle form, which is 'taken'. The correct phrase is "Have you taken..."

Is "tooked" correct?

No, "tooked" is incorrect. 'Take' is an irregular verb, and its past tense and past participle forms do not end in '-ed'. The simple past is 'took', and the past participle is 'taken'.

Sources

Harper, Douglas. "Etymology of take." Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com/word/take. Accessed 14 January, 2023.
"Take." Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/take. Accessed 14 Jan. 2023.
"Take." Oxford Learner's Dictionaries, https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/take_1. Accessed 26 Oct. 2025.