Take place

Take place

Today’s English expression is “take place.” This is a very common way of describing where or when things happen. We usually use it when talking about events. The wedding took place in a beautiful garden. That means, the wedding happened in a beautiful garden; that’s where the wedding was held.

China’s Communist Party was founded on July 23, 1921. The very beginning of the party was a national Congress that took place from July 23 to July 31, 1921. That meeting took place at a French concession; a concession was a building where diplomats governed part of Shanghai. So, the meeting took place in 1921 and it took place at the French concession. That’s how we use “take place” to describe when and where things happen.

Here’s a trivia question that will be asked for years to come… the 2020 Tokyo Olympics took place in what year? Of course, we know that the 2020 Olympics are taking place now, in 2021. They postponed the games last year but kept the name. So, if someone asks you when were the 2020 Olympics, you’ll know it was a trick question. The 2020 Olympics took place in 2021.

I went to the Olympics once. The 2012 Olympics took place in London. I was very fortunate to have the opportunity to see two events: ping pong and beach volleyball. The table tennis took place in a convention center, while the volleyball took place at the Horse Guards Parade. That’s an outdoor arena.

So, as you can see, I used “take place” to refer to a city (London) and a specific place (Horse Guards Parade). Either one works; in fact, you can use “take place” on a grand scale or a tiny one. The 2016 Olympics were the first Summer Olympics to take place in South America. In 2020, a lot of wedding ceremonies took place in people’s living rooms.

Notice that “take place” is almost always used with events. An event is like a sporting competition, a wedding, a meeting, a convention, a concert, a rally, a ceremony—all these things can take place and they’re gatherings of individuals for an event.

We can also use this for sudden events that are not planned. A tornado took place at 5:30 pm. An accident took place at a busy intersection in the center of town. Here are a few examples from previous lessons: The Mexico train collapse took place on Line 12 of the city’s metro system. Britney Spears’s hearing took place virtually so she called into the hearing and participated through her computer. And it wasn’t just hers. A lot of hearings and trials took place virtually in 2020 and 2021 due to the pandemic. Plus, new internet scams are taking place on dating apps .

If you’re describing a book, a movie, or a TV show, you might want to describe the time and place of the story. I like Cable Girls, a show on Netflix. It takes place in Madrid in the 1950s. In that example, I used “take place” to describe both the time and location of the story. Cable Girls takes place in Madrid in the 1950s.

Another good show is The Crown. That one takes place primarily in England, though there are some scenes in Wales, Africa, Australia, and America. It takes place over several decades of Queen Elizabeth’s life.

I’m reading a book called “There’s No Such Thing as an Easy Job.” The book takes place in Tokyo. Next time I get a chance to watch a movie, I’m going to watch Minari. It’s about a family of South Korean immigrants who move to America. The movie takes place in the American state of Oklahoma in the 1980s.

Quote of the Week

Today’s lesson was about China, so let’s go to the most famous Chinese philosopher for today’s quote. Confucius said, “He who conquers himself is the mightiest warrior.” I just got done watching Wimbledon and the announcers were saying how much of tennis is a mental game. And it’s definitely true, the mental discipline those players have is amazing. In tennis, as in so much of life, conquering yourself, having self-discipline, is such a feat. Here’s that Confucius quote again, “He who conquers himself is the mightiest warrior.”

See you next time!

And that’s all for today’s Plain English. You’ve reached the end of the audio portion of Lesson 384 for Monday, July 26, 2021. Remember, we’ve got the full lesson online at PlainEnglish.com/384. The full lesson includes a how-to video where we’re going to show you how to start a sentence with a concession. If you want to make an important point, but you want to concede a little bit of ground beforehand, you can use the word “may.” This is a great way to make an important argument. You make a small concession before you make your main point. And that’s what our how-to video is all about today at PlainEnglish.com/384.

Coming up on Thursday, we’ll talk about three ideas for improving education that has come out of the at-home learning experiment of 2020 and 2021. That’s on Thursday’s lesson; we’ll see you then!