Micro-listening
Took or have taken? Choose the form for your message
Should I say 'took' or 'have taken'?
Use 'took' for a finished past event, and 'have taken' for an earlier action connected with now. For example, 'I took the key on Monday' tells a past story, while 'I have taken the key, so we can start' gives a current update. After 'did' or 'didn't', use 'take'.
Key points
- Use 'took' with a finished past time.
- Use 'have taken' for a present update.
- After 'did', use the base form 'take'.
- A missing time expression does not force 'have taken'.
Try what you have learned
Listen to a recording, type what you hear, and check your answer.
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At a glance
| Form | Use it for | Example |
|---|---|---|
| 'took' | A finished past event | I took the bus yesterday. |
| 'have taken' | An action connected with now | We have taken the parts upstairs. |
| 'did ... take' | A past question | Did you take the receipt? |
| didn't take | A past negative | She didn't take the manual. |
The full explanation
The past simple places an action in a finished past situation: I took the radio apart yesterday. The present perfect connects a past action with now: I have taken the radio apart, so we can check it.
I brought my broken radio last Saturday.
Why it works: Brought places the action at a finished past time.
2 more examples
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I have brought a small lamp for us to check.
Have brought introduces something available now.
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Did you bring the instruction book?
After did, use bring, not brought.
Read the full guide
Try the listening exercise
Choose a past story or a present update
Before choosing a verb form, decide what you want to tell someone. At a repair session, a past story explains what happened at a finished time: you bought a lamp on Monday. A present update explains the situation now: you have brought the lamp, so someone can examine it. Both describe earlier actions, but they direct the listener's attention differently. Start with this meaning choice, then look for the form you need.
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I bought this lamp on Monday.
Why it works: The speaker places the purchase at a finished time.
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I have brought the lamp with me.
Why it works: The lamp is here for the current activity.
Your turn
Which sentence gives an update about something available now?
Answer: I have brought the lamp with me.
Show the answer
Answer: I have brought the lamp with me.
Have brought presents the earlier action as relevant to the current situation.
Use the past form for a finished time
When you name a finished past time, choose the past simple. Useful signals include yesterday, last night, and two days ago. Irregular verbs have forms you need to learn, such as took, saw, and wrote. Do not add the usual ending to these verbs. A past story can continue without repeating its time phrase in every sentence. Once the listener knows you are describing yesterday, later actions can stay in the past simple.
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Yesterday, I took the cover off and saw a loose wire.
Why it works: One time phrase places both actions in the past.
You can practise this again in make or made: choose the right form and Reflexive Pronouns: Choose the Right Form.
Your turn
Complete the sentence: Last night, Nina ___ a note about the problem.
Answer: wrote
Show the answer
Answer: wrote
Last night is a finished past time, so the sentence needs the past simple form wrote.
Keep have or has with the update
For a present perfect update, build the verb in two parts. Use have with I, you, we, and they; use has with he, she, or it. Then add the past participle: taken, seen, or written. This is the name for the verb form in have taken. It cannot replace took by itself in a normal past statement. You can also use this structure for experience up to now, without saying exactly when it happened.
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Nina has written the repair details on the card.
Why it works: Has written gives an update; the details are now on the card.
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We have seen this problem before.
Why it works: Have seen describes experience useful in the present situation.
Your turn
Complete the update: Leo ___ the broken part out, so we can examine it.
Answer: has taken
Show the answer
Answer: has taken
Leo takes has, followed by the participle taken.
Remember matching and changing forms
Some irregular verbs use the same word for the past simple and the participle: buy, bought, bought; bring, brought, brought; make, made, made. Others have three different forms: take, took, taken; see, saw, seen. Learn a few useful sets, then cover them and recall a sentence for each meaning. With bought or made, the word alone does not reveal the structure. Listen for have or has, and notice the time context.
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We made a list yesterday.
Why it works: Made is the past simple here.
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We have made a list for today's session.
Why it works: Made is the participle after have.
Your turn
Which sentence correctly uses the set bring, brought, brought?
Answer: She has brought a spare cable.
Show the answer
Answer: She has brought a spare cable.
Brought is the participle of bring and follows has.
Use the base form after did
Past questions and negatives often need did or didn't. These words already mark the past, so the next verb returns to its base form, the dictionary form: Did you take it? I didn't take it. Avoid did took and didn't took. Compare this with have and has, which require a participle. When checking a sentence, look immediately before the main verb. That small word can tell you which form belongs next.
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Did you see the crack?
Why it works: Did is followed by the base form see.
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Have you seen the crack?
Why it works: Have is followed by the participle seen.
Your turn
Complete the sentence: I didn't ___ the glass.
Answer: break
Show the answer
Answer: break
Didn't carries the past meaning, so the next verb uses its base form.
Listen for contractions and changing sounds
In speech, I have often becomes I've, and she has becomes she's. These short sounds may be less clear than the main verb, but they help you recover the structure. In she's taken, the ending means has. Also notice that wrote has one syllable and written has two, with a different first vowel. During dictation, first catch the main message. Then listen again for the helper word and the exact verb ending.
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I've written your name on the box.
Why it works: The short opening means I have.
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She's taken the radio upstairs.
Why it works: Here, she's means she has.
Your turn
What does I've mean in I've written your name?
Answer: I have
Show the answer
Answer: I have
I've expands to I have, and written is the participle that follows it.
Separate past details from the current result
In a short handover message, combine a finished event with a useful current update. Name the past time when it helps, then explain what is ready now. Do not assume that every sentence without a time phrase needs have or has; a finished situation may already be understood. American speakers also commonly say I just bought it. For controlled practice, use a clear finished time for the past simple and a clear present connection for the present perfect.
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I spoke to the owner yesterday, and I've written her number on the card.
Why it works: The conversation is dated; the written number is available now.
Your turn
Which sentence clearly combines a finished event with a current update?
Answer: I spoke to him yesterday, and I've written a note.
Show the answer
Answer: I spoke to him yesterday, and I've written a note.
Spoke fits yesterday, while have written uses the correct participle for the update.
Common mistakes
What learners often say, what to say instead, and why.
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Not this:
I have took the package.Say: I have taken the package.
'Have' requires the past participle 'taken', not the past form 'took'.
-
Not this:
Did you took the spare key?Say: Did you take the spare key?
'Did' already marks the past, so the main verb returns to its base form.
-
Not this:
Last Saturday, I have taken the train.Say: Last Saturday, I took the train.
A finished time such as 'last Saturday' normally takes the past simple.
Before you go
Remember this
First choose the time meaning. Then check the form: took for a finished past event, have taken for an update connected to now, and take after did or didn't. Recall whole phrases so the small helper words stay with the verb.
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I bought these tools at the market yesterday.
Bought is the irregular past form of buy. Yesterday places the purchase at a finished time.
Listen for
At natural speed these words change shape. Tap one to hear it again.
- The final t or d is barely said before the next consonant.
Listen for
At natural speed these words change shape. Tap one to hear it again.
- The last sound of the first word runs straight into the next word.
- The final t or d is barely said before the next consonant.
- A small word like this is said quickly and softly, not as written.
Listen for
At natural speed these words change shape. Tap one to hear it again.
- The last sound of the first word runs straight into the next word.
- The final t or d is barely said before the next consonant.
- A small word like this is said quickly and softly, not as written.
Listening 2 of 4
Listen, then type what you hear. Replay as often as you need.
0:00
Read the transcript
I've written your name on the blue box.
I've means I have. Written is the participle, and the label is useful now.
Listen for
At natural speed these words change shape. Tap one to hear it again.
- In American English this t sounds like a quick, soft d.
- Two words said as one.
Listen for
At natural speed these words change shape. Tap one to hear it again.
- A small word like this is said quickly and softly, not as written.
- Two words said as one.
Listen for
At natural speed these words change shape. Tap one to hear it again.
- In American English this t sounds like a quick, soft d.
- A small word like this is said quickly and softly, not as written.
- Two words said as one.
Try a longer clip. Listen once, then replay the part you missed.
Listening 3 of 4
Listen, then type what you hear. Replay as often as you need.
0:00
Read the transcript
Did you take the list home last night? I've looked in the drawer, but I haven't found it. We need it before the doors open.
Take follows did. Haven't found uses the participle found to report the unsuccessful search up to now.
Listen for
At natural speed these words change shape. Tap one to hear it again.
- The last sound of the first word runs straight into the next word.
- The last sound of the first word runs straight into the next word.
- The last sound of the first word runs straight into the next word.
Listen for
At natural speed these words change shape. Tap one to hear it again.
- The last sound of the first word runs straight into the next word.
- The last sound of the first word runs straight into the next word.
- The last sound of the first word runs straight into the next word.
Listen for
At natural speed these words change shape. Tap one to hear it again.
- The last sound of the first word runs straight into the next word.
- The last sound of the first word runs straight into the next word.
- The last sound of the first word runs straight into the next word.
This clip is longer. Follow the instruction above the answer field.
Listening 4 of 4
Listen, then type the missing words. The rest of the text is already there.
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Read the transcript
Hi, Ben. I went to the hall early and put the chairs around the tables. I've written a number on each repair card, so we can keep the jobs in order. I haven't made the labels for the cable box yet. Could you do that when you arrive? The scissors are missing, but I think I left them in that box. Please check there first.
Went and put tell the setup story. I've written and haven't made connect completed and unfinished work with the current situation. Left is the past form of leave.
Listen for
At natural speed these words change shape. Tap one to hear it again.
- The last sound of the first word runs straight into the next word.
- The last sound of the first word runs straight into the next word.
- The last sound of the first word runs straight into the next word.
Listen for
At natural speed these words change shape. Tap one to hear it again.
- The last sound of the first word runs straight into the next word.
- The last sound of the first word runs straight into the next word.
- The last sound of the first word runs straight into the next word.
Listen for
At natural speed these words change shape. Tap one to hear it again.
- The last sound of the first word runs straight into the next word.
- The last sound of the first word runs straight into the next word.
- The last sound of the first word runs straight into the next word.
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Save my progressYour turn
Say it your way
Speak for 20-30 seconds as a repair session volunteer. Describe one thing you did yesterday, give two updates about what is ready now, and say what still needs doing.
Use: took or have taken? Choose the form for your message
You could start with “Yesterday, I brought…”
Think for ten seconds, then answer out loud for as long as the task above asks, without looking at the lesson. Nothing is sent unless you ask for feedback.
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Say it along with the speaker
I bought these tools at the market yesterday.
Play the line slowly, then speak at the same time as the speaker. Copy the rhythm, not just the words.
Write
Put it in your own words
- I used “took or have taken? Choose the form for your message”.
- It is about my life, not the lesson’s example.
- I read it once aloud to check it sounds right.
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Questions about "Took or have taken? Choose the form for your message"
Can I use the past simple without saying when?
Yes. The finished situation can be clear from the conversation. If someone asks about your shopping trip, you can answer with bought without repeating the time. A missing time phrase does not automatically require the present perfect.
I bought a small toolbox.
The shop assistant gave me a receipt.
Why does brought appear in both structures?
Brought is both the past simple and the past participle of bring. The form stays the same, but the surrounding words change. Have brought includes a helper verb; brought can stand as the past simple in a statement.
Sam brought lunch yesterday.
Sam has brought enough lunch for everyone.
Should I say has been or has gone for a visit?
Use has been to a place when the person visited and returned. Use has gone to a place when the person has left and has not returned yet. For experiences involving completed visits, been is usually the useful choice.
Rosa has been to the hardware store, and she is back now.
Rosa has gone to the hardware store, so she cannot answer the office phone.
Does this week always require the present perfect?
No. The present perfect can describe actions during the week up to now. The past simple can describe a particular completed event within that week. Choose the meaning you want, rather than treating this week as an automatic rule.
I've taken the bus three times this week.
I took the bus on Monday this week.
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