take great pains
take great pains · takes great pains · took great pains · taken great pains · taking great pains
To take pains to an especially high degreeTo take pains (try hard) to an especially high degree; (loosely) to take pains.
» He took great pains in the negotiation.
Tatoeba contributors · Tatoeba · CC BY 2.0 FRExamples
13 sentencesHe took great pains in the negotiation.
I take great pains in educating my daughter.
He took great pains in taming a puma.
Meaning
1 senses(idiomatic)To take pains (try hard) to an especially high degree; (loosely) to take pains.
Forms
takes great pains, taking great pains, took great pains, taken great painsirregular · Lesson
| Base form | take great pains · to take great pains |
|---|---|
| 3rd person singular | takes great pains |
| Present participle | taking great pains |
| Past simple | took great pains |
| Past participle | taken great pains |
Tenses
take great pains · took great pains · will take great pains · have taken great painsPoint at a form to see it in a sentence.Tap a form to see it in a sentence.
Word family
1 related wordsRelatedpainstakingC2
Lessons for this word
3 lessons- A1Present simple — Because it is a verb
- A1Past simple, irregular verbs — Because of its past form
- A2Present perfect: introduction — Because of its past participle
See also
neighbours in the dictionaryDictionary text adapted from Wiktionary (Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0) and Open English WordNet / Princeton WordNet (CC BY 4.0, WordNet License); shared under CC BY-SA 4.0. Example sentences and recordings are credited where they appear.