# take or make decision



## thinkinginenglish

HOla, quería saber si es posible decir "take decisions", y sí es correcto usar el verbo "take", me podéis decir la diferencia entre "take/make decisions"?

Muchas gracias


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## transparente

Me parece que 'to make decisions' es la manera. No recuerdo haber escuchado la otra opción.


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## espiadimonis

Hola, 
Yo siempre habia oido "make a decision". Creo que és una "collocation". Però el diccionario también dice "take a decision", aunque parece que en inglés británico lo mas normal sea "make a decision".


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## siempreaprendiendo

hi all, 

Is there any difference between:
'taking a decision' and 'making a decision'????
could you use either of them?


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## Jeromed

You can only say "make a decision."


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## siempreaprendiendo

thanks!!!
and what about: the person who makes the decisions?
or rather: the person that makes the decisions?


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## Norin

Need a little help here, plz.  

I'm used to say "*make a decision*" all the time, and I listen and read most times but I have a teacher (she's supposed to have English Interpretation Studies) and she uses *"Take a decision"  *and has also corrected us when writing or saying *"make a decision"... *

Is this also acceptable or is she completely wrong? (I guess she's wrong).

 

Thanks!


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## YaniraTfe

Hi Norin!
When I read your post, I totally agreed with you straight away: For me the right thing is "make a decision".

But, to my surprise, when I googled "Take a decision" 820,000 pages came out. There are lots of interesting ones about it. Maybe you'd like to read some of of them.

¡Saludos!


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## Norin

Hi YaniraTfe ! 
Thank you for your response!  I also googled it and I found an interestig explanation at whis website:  www dot betterwritingskills dot com/articles/take-decisions.txt  (plz put it together with real dots <.> ;-)   
So, it may be both correct, only "take a decision" is British English and "make a decision" is American English.  
I also found an old thread about same subject here... with lots of different opinions, actually. 
So, for me it is clear that both can be acceptable and none is incorrect.


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## jinti

I agree with Norin -- Americans generally _make_ decisions (as I do) and Brits _take_ them. What nationality is your teacher, or what variety of English does she speak?


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## Norin

WEll... i guess now she must have studied Brit.


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## YaniraTfe

Well, the people I work with are British and they use "make a decision", hahaha!
Now I've just looked it up it my Larousse Spanish-English Dictionary and it says:

"Tomar una decisión" = To make or take a decision

¡Nunca te acostarás sin aprender algo nuevo!

Saludos a todos


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## spinyilex

Americans always say "make a decision," unless they're trying to sound British.


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## VivaReggaeton88

I have never heard anyone say "take a decision" in my life.


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## lucia2

I have also never heard anyone -- American, British, Australian etc. -- use "take a decision."  I think that your teacher is mistranslating from Spanish.  But so as not to make her irritated, perhaps you should simply point out to her that "make a decision" is standard U.S. English.


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## Jeromed

_Make a decision_ is what US English speakers say.


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## sniffrat

Jeromed said:


> _Make a decision_ is what US English speakers say.


 
...and UK English speakers, too.


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## jinti

I have heard _take a decision_ before from plenty of BrE speakers here in the US, and commonly enough that it no longer raises my eyebrows.  

From encyclopedia.com, quoting the Concise Oxford Companion to the English Language: 





> _Take a decision_ is chiefly BrE, though _make a decision_ is shared _[between British and American English]. _


 
Here's an entertaining NY Times article by William Safire from the late '80s which mentions the _take/make_ debate.  And there was also this previous thread on the topic.


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## RAZORBLADE

Buenos días a todos, me asalta una duda, ¿Cuál es la forma correcta, make/ take a decsion?, de antemano agradezco su ayuda.


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## Sallyb36

make a decision


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## SydLexia

And "to take a decision" - I don't see any difference between them (here in the UK anyway)

syd


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## fenixpollo

The difference is probably regional. To my ears, "take a decision" is not something a native speaker of American English would say.  It may be used in AE, but not frequently and not in the western U.S., where we make a decision.

To avoid the confusion, you could just say "decide". 

Moderator note: There were already 3 threads on this subject open in the forum. I merged them all into this thread. Before opening a thread, please make sure to search the online dictionary and the forum, to avoid repeating the same question.


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## Jim986

Hi. Fascinating. I personally use both and have always thought of them as equally correct, which they are as far as informal use is concerned, in such contexts as "I've got to take a decision soon..." However, in the context of corporate organisation we use exclusively "make" in such terms as "the decision making process", "access to decision makers", "critial decision making data" etc. This may be because of the preponderance of American organisations in the business world, but whatever the reason it's the current reality.


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## RAZORBLADE

Thanks to every one, your help has been so useful.


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## aztlaniano

Norin said:


> Hi YaniraTfe !
> Thank you for your response! I also googled it and I found an interestig explanation at whis website: www dot betterwritingskills dot com/articles/take-decisions.txt (plz put it together with real dots <.> ;-)
> So, it may be both correct, only "take a decision" is British English and "make a decision" is American English.
> I also found an old thread about same subject here... with lots of different opinions, actually.
> So, for me it is clear that both can be acceptable and none is incorrect.


 
*Neither* (not none, there are only two options) is incorrect. "Make" is usual in US English, "take" in British.


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## inib

I'm British and I would say that I have heard and use the two versions with similar frequency and no difference of meaning


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## Mirlo

I have always  heard "make a decision", but It's very interesting to know that some people uses "take a ..."
Saludos,


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## ery1980

Según el Oxford Dictionary:
to make o (_BrE also_) take a decision: tomar una decisión;


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## riquifiqui

*whats the difference between TO MAKE OR TO TAKE A DESICION?

*Id I'd like to know what proper verb do i hv I have to use to say "make or take a desicion decision".


Thanks/Riquifiqui


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## kayokid

Hello. In AE a person makes a decision (to do something, etc.)


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## Grekh

riquifiqui said:


> I'd like to know what proper verb do I have to use to say make or take a decision.
> 
> Thanks/Riquifiqui


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## MiCorazonEstaEnCadiz

Aquí en los EE.UU. a veces se puede oír "he took the decision to......" 

Normalmente se refiere al pasado.


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## riquifiqui

cuando se usa TO TAKE A DESICION?


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## MiCorazonEstaEnCadiz

Es igual que *to make a decision*, pero sólo lo oigo usado en el pasado. 


He made the decision to go home last night. 

He took the decision to go home last night. 


"To make a decision" es mucho más común.


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## marmalade

De acuerdo, el significado es lo mismo en el presente o el pasado, igual.

En los EEUU "take/took a decision" se usa mucho menos que "make", casi nunca.  A mí me suena un poco pretencioso, formal o afectado. Se usa más en inglaterra, creo.


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## SDLX Master

Make...always make.


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## GaboTino

Revisa este hilo, tal vez te ayude a TOMAR UNA DECISIÓN  

http://forum.wordreference.com/showthread.php?t=948487


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## VivaReggaeton88

MiCorazonEstaEnCadiz said:


> Aquí en los EE.UU. a veces se puede oír "he took the decision to......"
> 
> Normalmente se refiere al pasado.



En serio ha escuchado esto? "He made the decision to..." o más natural "He decided to..." Qué extraño este thread.


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