take steps — do things to achieve something
collocationB2IELTS 6+neutralcommon
to do things in order to make something happen or to deal with a problem
Say it like a native
Textbook The government must undertake measures to address the issue.
Native The government needs to take steps to fix it.
'Take steps' is natural; 'undertake measures' is officialese.
Pattern: take steps (to do something)
In use
- The school needs to take steps to improve student safety.daily life
- If I were in charge, I would take steps to encourage people to use public transport instead of driving.IELTS speaking
Common mistake
✗ We took steps for reduce costs.
✓ We took steps to reduce costs.
Take steps TO do something — to-infinitive, not 'for'.
Common collocations
take steps to— to, necessary, practical, immediate
Don't confuse it
Different from 'take a step', which means to move your foot forward.