1. It is widely acknowledged that he takes after his aunt. 2. He was reluctant to take in any more responsibility. 3. He assured the client that he would take out the matter at the first given opportunity. Select the answer using the codes given below :

Correct — C, (c) 1 only.

The three underlined items are phrasal verbs on the stem 'take', and only the first is used correctly.

Sentence 1 is correct. 'To take after' means to resemble a parent or an older relative in looks or in character, and it is used of family likeness and of nothing else: she takes after her mother, he takes after his uncle. 'He takes after his aunt' is the idiom in its exact and only sense, and the frame around it - 'it is widely acknowledged that' - is the language in which a family resemblance is commonly reported.

Sentence 2 is not correct. The verb English uses for accepting a duty, a task or a burden is 'take on': to take on responsibility, to take on extra work, to take on a new client. 'Take in' means something different in each of its senses - to absorb or understand information, to give shelter to a person, to deceive somebody, or to make a garment narrower - and none of them will carry 'responsibility'. The sentence needs 'take on'.

Sentence 3 is not correct either. To raise a matter with somebody, or to begin dealing with it, is to 'take it up': the client's complaint will be taken up with the office, the point was taken up at the next meeting. 'Take out' means to remove or extract something, or to obtain a policy or a licence, or to escort a person to a place of entertainment. 'Take out the matter' is not English in any of those senses; the sentence needs 'take up'.

One sentence stands, and it is the first, which is option (c).

Why the others are wrong

• (a)1 and 2 — This option needs sentence 2 to be correct, and it fails on the particle. Responsibility is accepted with 'take on' - the verb that governs duties, tasks, workloads and commitments - while 'take in' handles information, lodgers, deception and dressmaking. The confusion is easy to see: both particles suggest bringing something towards oneself, and in a loose paraphrase a person who accepts responsibility does take it in. Phrasal verbs do not work by paraphrase, though; the particle is fixed by usage, and the usage here is settled.
• (b)1 and 3 — This option needs sentence 3 to be correct. 'Take out the matter' is the error a candidate makes when translating from a general idea - dealing with something, bringing it out into the open - rather than recalling the fixed form. English takes a matter up: with a person, at a meeting, at the first opportunity. 'Take out' belongs to removal and extraction - taking out a tooth, taking out an insurance policy, taking out a loan - and the sentence's own context, assuring a client that something will be dealt with soon, is exactly the context in which 'take up' is used.
• (d)None of the above — 'None of the above' would require sentence 1 to be wrong as well, and it is not. 'Take after' is one of the most fixed phrasal verbs in the language: it has a single sense, family resemblance, and it is used in that sense without variation. There is nothing in the sentence to fault - the object is a relative, the sense is resemblance, and the frame is ordinary reported opinion. The escape option is a genuine answer elsewhere in this set, but choosing it here means rejecting a correct sentence along with the two faulty ones.

The 'take' family is one of the largest phrasal-verb clusters in English, and the particles are not interchangeable. Learning it as a cluster is far more efficient than meeting the members singly.

take after - to resemble an older relative. One sense only. take on - to accept a task, a duty, a worker or an opponent. take up - to raise a matter; to begin an activity or a hobby; to occupy space or time. take in - to absorb or understand; to give shelter; to deceive; to make a garment narrower. take out - to remove or extract; to obtain a policy, licence or loan; to escort somebody to an entertainment. take over - to assume control of something. take down - to write something from dictation; to dismantle. take to - to develop a liking for; to begin a habit. take back - to retract a statement; to return goods.

Two patterns make the cluster learnable. First, several particles keep a trace of their literal direction: on for assuming a load, up for raising, down for writing or dismantling, over for succession. Second, the object usually selects the verb - a duty goes with 'on', a matter with 'up', information with 'in', a tooth or a policy with 'out'.

That second pattern is the practical test for an examination item. Read the object first, then ask which particle English attaches to that kind of object. Responsibility takes on. A matter takes up. An aunt takes after.

Key facts

• 'Take after' means to resemble an older relative and has essentially that one sense, which makes it among the most fixed phrasal verbs in English.
• Responsibility, tasks, workloads and opponents are accepted with 'take on'; 'take in' governs information, lodgers, deception and the narrowing of garments.
• A matter is 'taken up' - with a person, at a meeting, at the first opportunity - while 'take out' belongs to removal, extraction and the obtaining of policies or licences.
• The object of the verb is the practical guide to the particle: a duty selects on, a matter selects up, information selects in, a tooth or a policy selects out.
• This item's option list is identical in wording and order to the first item of the same set, which has a different answer - a reason to read the options rather than recall their position.

Common traps

• Choosing a particle by paraphrase - accepting responsibility does feel like taking it in - when the particle is fixed by usage and not by logic.
• Translating a general idea into a phrasal verb, which is how 'take out the matter' is produced in place of 'take up the matter'.
• Rejecting sentence 1 in the belief that the item must contain more than one error, or none at all.
• Answering from the position of the option rather than its text, when this item's list matches the first item's exactly and the answers differ.
• Assuming that a phrasal verb with many senses must be able to carry one more; 'take in' has four established senses and none of them accepts responsibility.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  In which one of the following sentences is the phrasal verb used correctly ?

  • (a)She agreed to take in the additional charge of the Accounts Section
  • (b)The Officer promised to take up the grievance with the Regional Office
  • (c)He takes on his grandfather in both looks and temperament
  • (d)The clerk was asked to take out the minutes of the meeting

  Answer(b) The Officer promised to take up the grievance with the Regional Office - a matter or a grievance is taken up. (a) needs 'take on' for accepting a charge, (c) needs 'takes after' for family resemblance, and (d) needs 'take down' for recording minutes.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  'The firm decided to ______ two more apprentices for the new workshop.' Which completes the sentence correctly ?

  • (a)take in
  • (b)take after
  • (c)take on
  • (d)take out

  Answer(c) take on - to take on is to engage or employ, and workers are the standard object. 'Take in' would suggest giving them shelter, 'take after' is confined to family resemblance, and 'take out' would mean removing or escorting them.