Take advantage of

Idioms | B2

Listening exercises with “Take advantage of”

If you take advantage of something, it means that you are using a situation or an opportunity and benefitting from it in some way. This could be used in a positive or neutral way, e.g. We took advantage of the beautiful weather by going for a long walk.

If you take advantage of someone, the meaning is more negative, as it sounds like you are using or exploiting somebody or something about them, e.g. You’ve got to learn to say no to people – don’t always let them take advantage of you.

With this negative sense, this phrasal verb can be used in the passive when focussing more on the victim. e.g. Jemima feels like she has been taken advantage of by the other members of the team.

Have a go at these micro-dictation exercises to hear this expression being used in context – how much can you understand?

Accent: Northern England