Do You 'Take Note' or 'Make Note'?

This week on Ask a Teacher, we answer a question from Galmesa from Ethiopia:

Question:

Dear VOA, I have a question for you. At school I usually get asked the difference between the phrases² "take note" and "make note." Would you tell me? -Galmesa, Ethiopia

Answer:

Hello Galmesa! You say that you are often asked about these phrases at school. It sounds like you might be an English teacher. Am I right? In any case, you ask a good question.

The phrases "take note" and "make note" are sometimes interchangeable. But there are small differences between the two phrases.

Take note

When used as an idiom, or expression, the phrase¹ "take note" means³ to notice something. If you take note of something, you pay special attention to it because you think that it is important or has value. We often use this phrase in commands and questions. Listen to some examples:

If you are driving this afternoon, take note of the weather. We saw a warning⁴ on the news for storms in the area.

Did you take note of how they made the metal handicrafts?

But if you add an -s to "take note," the meaning changes. "Take notes" means to write something down for the purpose of remembering it. People often take notes in classes and meetings, and at talks or other events when they want to recall⁵ information later. Listen to this how this speaker uses the phrase:

I watched an excellent program about the symbiosis⁶ of sea creatures. I even took some notes.

Make a note of

Now let's move to our next phrase.

The usual wording in American English is "make a note of," which means to write or record something quickly as a reminder⁷. So "make a note of" has a similar meaning to "take notes."

You might also hear the phrase "make a mental note." It means to make a special effort to remember something in your mind. For example, a person might say:

I will make a mental note to pick up the materials on my way home.

And that's Ask a Teacher for this week.

Words in This Story

phrase – n. a group of two or more words that express a single idea but do not usually form a complete sentence

interchangeable – adj. capable⁸ of being used in place of each other

handicraft – n. an object made by skillful⁹ use of your hands

symbiosis – n. the relationship between two different kinds of living things that live near and depend on each other

1 phrase   

n.短语，词组；成语，习语

参考例句：

• The phrase was caught on and immediately became popular.这个短语被采用后很快就流行了。
• That's exactly the phrase I was looking for.这就是我一直找的那个短语。

2 phrases   

n.短语( phrase的名词复数 )；成语；说法；乐句

参考例句：

• Sports commentators repeat the same phrases ad nauseam. 体育解说员翻来覆去说着同样的词语，真叫人腻烦。
• Television sports commentators repeat the same phrases ad nauseam. 电视体育解说员说来说去就是那么几句话，令人厌烦。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 means   

n.方法，手段，折中点，物质财富

参考例句：

• That man used artful means to find out secrets.那人使用狡猾的手段获取机密。
• We must get it done by some means or other.我们总得想办法把它干完。

4 warning   

n.警告，告诫，训诫，警戒，警报

参考例句：

• The other side paid no attention to our warning.对方不重视我方的警告。
• He realized that his doctor was warning him off drink.他意识到医生在告诫他戒酒。

5 recall   

n.回忆，召回，取消；vt.回想起，召回，与...相似，恢复

参考例句：

• As you may recall, he was in the army then.你可能记得当时他正在从军。
• We demand that you recall your army from our border.我们要求你们撤回在我们边境的部队。

6 symbiosis   

n.共生（关系），共栖

参考例句：

• They live in a symbiosis with governments that they are financing.他们与他们服务的政府互利共存。
• The symbiosis between social values and political structure has produced extraordinary achievement.社会价值观念和政治结构的共生现象带来了非凡的成就。

7 reminder   

n.提醒物，纪念品；暗示，提示

参考例句：

• I have had another reminder from the library.我又收到图书馆的催还单。
• It always took a final reminder to get her to pay her share of the rent.总是得发给她一份最后催缴通知，她才付应该交的房租。

8 capable   

adj.有能力的，有才能的

参考例句：

• The new woman secretary was extremely clever and capable.这位新来的女秘书很是精明强干。
• Jim is capable at sports.吉姆擅长运动。

9 skillful   

adj.灵巧的，熟练的

参考例句：

• Soon they became very skillful in answering such questions.很快他们就会很熟练地回答这种问题了。
• It was very skillful of you to repair my bicycle.你修好了我的自行车，技术真好。