Page 602 - Practical English Usage 3ed - Michael Swan, Oxford

576 take: time
We can use take to say how much time we need to do something. Five structures are common
1 The person is the subject:
person + take + time + infinitive
I took three hours to get home last night. She takes all day to get out ofthe bathroom. They took two hours to unload the ferry.
2 The activity is the subject:
activity + take (+ person) + time
The journey took me three hours. Gardening takes a lot of time.
Unloading the ferry took them two hours.
3 The object of the activity is the subject:
object of activity + take (+ person) + infinitive The ferry took them two hours to unload.
This house will take all week to clean.
4 Preparatory it is the subject:
It + take (+ person) + time + infinitive
It took me three hours to get home last night. It takes ages to do the shopping.
5 Before/until is used:
It + take (+ person) + time + before/until.
It took us six weeks be/ore/until we got the house clean.
It took a long time before/until she felt comfortable in her new school.
577 taste
1 link verb
Taste can be used as a 'link verb' (see 328), followed by an adjective or noun, to say how something tastes. Progressive forms are not used.
This tastes nice. What's in it? (NOT ••• ttlSte3 lIieely.)
The wine tastesfunny. (NOT ••• is ttlStingfunny ...) Before a noun, taste ofand taste like are used.
The fish soup tasted mostly o f garlic. Her lips tasted like wild strawberries.
take: time 576
page 570