Subject – takes – amount of time
(how much time is needed to do something)

• It takes me 10 minutes to get to school.
• It takes longer to walk to school than to ride a bicycle.
• Driving 100 miles takes between one and two hours.
• Cleaning my room is going to take forever! It’s a big mess!
• It took me 4 hours to finish all my homework.

Sometimes you can use both “takes” or “lasts”:

• This test takes 40 minutes to finish. (Finishing the test will require 40 minutes of your time.)

• This test lasts 40 minutes. (The test will continue for 40 minutes, and then it will end.)

Complete the sentences with an amount of time.

1. It takes me ____________________ to walk to school.

2. It takes me ____________________ to go to school by bicycle.

3. It takes me ____________________ to go to school by car.

4. It takes about ____________________ to get ready for school.

5. It takes ____________________ to learn how to play the piano well.

6. It takes ____________________ to fly around the world.

7. Going to college and earning a degree will take about ________________.