Meaning trap
take to
develop a habit
To begin doing something regularly or as a habit, often suddenly or unexpectedly.
Don't mix these meanings
Same phrase, different job.
To begin doing something regularly or as a habit, often suddenly or unexpectedly.
'take to' also has the more basic meaning 'to start liking someone or something'; this is the advanced sense.
Hear it in context
Notice where the phrase sounds natural.
- After moving to the countryside, she took to walking her dog at sunrise every day.habits
- Many people take to checking their phones first thing in the morning, which can quickly become a difficult habit to break.IELTS speaking
Fix the pattern
Pattern: take to + -ing
WrongHe took to drink coffee at night.
RightHe's taken to drinking coffee at night.
'Take to + -ing', not a to-infinitive.
Patterntake to + -ing
Use it right
Choose the version that sounds natural in speech.
'Take to + -ing' is the idiomatic 'get into the habit of'; the formal version is clunky.
Build natural chunks
Words that usually travel with it.
take to + -ingtaken to wearingtaken to goingtaken to leavingrecently
Don't confuse it
Unlike the B1 sense ('to start liking someone or something'), this sense focuses on the development of a habit or repeated behaviour, not on feelings or preferences.
Related
- take to (to start liking someone or something) — 'take to' also has the more basic meaning 'to start liking someone or something'; this is the advanced sense.