1. 表示“拿去”“带去”等，与 bring（拿来）方向相反。如：
Please take the empty cup away and bring me a cup of tea. 请把这个空杯拿走，给我倒杯茶来。
若语义需要，其后可带双宾语；若双宾语易位，用介词to引出间接宾语。如：
Please take him a cup of tea.=Please take a cup of tea to him. 请给他端杯茶去。
有时表示“拿去”可能与方向无关。如：
He took the box to the farm. 他把那个箱子带到了农场。
2. 表示“搭乘（交通工具）”，比较下面的同义表达：
他决定乘出租车去火车站。
正：He decided to take a taxi to the railway station.
正：He decided to go to the railway station by taxi.
3. 表示“认为”“当作”等，通常与 for, to be, as 连用。如：
He took me for my brother. 他错把我当成是我兄弟。
I took him for an honest man [to be honest]. 我看他为人老实。
按传统说法，take…for 往往指不合事实地“误认为”，而 take…to be [as] 则可能指正确地也可能指不正确地“认为”，但现代英语已不完全遵循此规则。
4. 表示“花费”，主要用于时间，有也用于人力、人手、劳力、精力、脑力等。如：
The flight will take three hours. 路上要飞3小时。
It takes patience. 做这工作需要耐心。
It takes two to make a quarrel. 一个巴掌拍不响。
It took three men to lift the box. 抬这个箱子要3个人。
It takes a lot of labor to build a railway. 修筑一条铁路要花费许多劳动力。
比较以下同义表达：
他写这本书花了5年时间。
正：It took him five years to write the book.
正：It took five years for him to write the book.
正：The book took him five years to write.
正：He took five years to write the book.
正：He took five years writing the book.
以上各句均可说，但以第一句最为普通。
在现代英语中take有时可用于金钱。如：
It takes a lot of money to buy a house like that. 买那样的房子需要很多钱。
It will take ten million dollars to build the library. 建这个图书馆要花1,000万美元。
5. 用于take to，用法如下：
(1) 对……产生好感，开始喜欢
I took to her the moment I met her. 我一见到她就立刻对她产生了好感。
(2) 形成…的习惯，沉溺于（通常后接动名词）
He soon took to drinking again. 不久他又喝起酒来。
(3) 前往（某处），求助于
The criminal took to the woods to hide. 罪犯跑到树林里藏起来了。
He was ill and had to take to bed. 他病倒了，只好卧床。