Meaning trap
take on
hire someone
to employ someone to work for you or your company
Don't mix these meanings
Same phrase, different job.
to employ someone to work for you or your company
Another meaning of 'take on' is 'accept responsibility'; compare the examples to keep the meanings separate.
Hear it in context
Notice where the phrase sounds natural.
- The company plans to take on five new employees next month.work
- Many businesses are not able to take on new workers during an economic downturn.IELTS speaking
Fix the pattern
Pattern: take on + noun (person, staff, employee)
WrongThey needed help, so they took on them.
RightThey needed help, so they took them on.
With a pronoun object, split the verb: 'took them on'.
Patterntake on + noun (person, staff, employee)
Use it right
Choose the version that sounds natural in speech.
'Take on' is the everyday verb for hiring; 'recruit additional personnel' is HR-formal.
Build natural chunks
Words that usually travel with it.
take on + staffmore staffan apprenticenew peopleextra hands
Don't confuse it
'Take on' in this sense is about hiring, not accepting a task.
Related
- take on (accept responsibility) — Another meaning of 'take on' is 'accept responsibility'; compare the examples to keep the meanings separate.