take the time to do something

[diamondcutter]

Judy: Which teacher will you miss the most after junior high school, Clara?
Clara: Mr. Brown. He guided me to do a lot better in science. He always took the time to explain things to me clearly whenever I couldn’t understand anything.

(from an English textbook for junior high school students by Cengage Learning and PEP)

I wonder if the “take the time to do something” is a set phrase. That is to say the definite article can’t be omitted or replaced by other words, say "much", "a lot of".

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

Judy: Which teacher will you miss the most after junior high school, Clara?
Clara: Mr. Brown. He taught me to do a lot better in science. He always took the time to explain things to me clearly whenever I couldn’t understand something.

(from an English textbook for junior high school students by Cengage Learning and PEP)

I wonder if the “take the time to do something” is a set phrase. That is to say the definite article can’t be omitted or replaced by other words, say "much", "a lot of".

We say:

- took time
- took the time
- took some time
- took lots of time
- took a lot of time
- took plenty of time

We do not say:

- took much time.
- took very time.

 

[Phaedrus]

I wonder if the “take the time to do something” is a set phrase.

Yes, it can be described as a set phrase. The meaning is "take the (amount of) time needed/necessary to do something."

Sometimes the infinitival clause is left out, being understood in the context. Here's an example that came to mind from a famous self-help book:

". . . one day at the end of my thirty-seventh year, while taking a spring Sunday walk, I happened upon a neighbor in the process of repairing a lawn mower. After greeting him, I remarked, 'Boy, I sure admire you. I've never been able to fix those kind of things or do anything like that.' My neighbor, without a moment's hesitation, shot back, 'That's because you don't take the time.' I resumed my walk, somehow disquieted by the gurulike simplicity, spontaneity and definitiveness of his response. . . . The issue is important, because many people simply do not take the time necessary to solve many of life's intellectual, social or spiritual problems, just as I did not take the time to solve mechanical problems."

- M. Scott Peck, The Road Less Traveled (1978)

 

[diamondcutter]

Thanks Charlie and Phaedrus.

Hi Charlie,

Would you please tell me why you changed the two words (guided and anything)? Are they wrong there?

 

[Tdol]

Something works better to refer to the specific thing/s you didn't understand when he helped you.

 

[diamondcutter]

Thanks, Tdol.

What about “guided” and “taught”? Is “taught” also better than “guided” there?

 

[emsr2d2]

With teachers, I'd stick with "taught" or "helped". "Guided" doesn't really fit.

 

[tzfujimino]

Is the pattern "guide somebody to do something" idiomatic (grammatical)? I've consulted several dictionaries here, but I haven't been able to find it.

 

[Tarheel]

Is the pattern "guide somebody to do something" idiomatic (grammatical)? I've consulted several dictionaries here, but I haven't been able to find it.

It's new to me. And it's somewhat surprising that it's in a textbook on English.
:-|

 

[emsr2d2]

Is the pattern "guide somebody to do something" idiomatic (grammatical)? I've consulted several dictionaries here, but I haven't been able to find it.

You won't find a five-word phrase in a dictionary.

 

[tzfujimino]

You won't find a five-word phrase in a dictionary.

By "the pattern" I mean something like this:


(Oxford Learner's Dictionary)

The image above shows how to use the verb "order" by using those "patterns (=parts in bold)".

 

[diamondcutter]

Is the pattern "guide somebody to do something" idiomatic (grammatical)? I've consulted several dictionaries here, but I haven't been able to find it.

You can find this sentence in the Cambridge dictionary.

The runway lights guide the plane in to land.
https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/guide

 

[tzfujimino]

I'm wondering if the "land" in that sentence is a noun.

Hmm...

 

[emsr2d2]

No, it's a verb.