Meaning trap
take down
write down information
To write information, notes, or details, especially when someone is speaking or giving instructions.
Don't mix these meanings
Same phrase, different job.
To write information, notes, or details, especially when someone is speaking or giving instructions.
Another meaning of 'take down' is 'remove from a high place'; compare the examples to keep the meanings separate.
Hear it in context
Notice where the phrase sounds natural.
Let me take down your phone number so I don't forget it.
In meetings, it's important to take down key ideas so you can remember them later.
Fix the pattern
One small grammar move makes it sound right.
Not: Give me a second to take down them.
Say: Give me a second to take them down.
With a pronoun object, put it in the middle — 'take them down', not 'take down them'.
Which sounds natural?
Tap the one a native speaker would say.
Natural; 'record the particulars as you dictate' is clerk-speak.
Build natural chunks
Words that usually travel with it.
take down + info
- the details
- his number
- notes
- an address
Don't confuse it
Related
Other meanings and phrases to compare.
- take down (remove from a high place) — Another meaning of 'take down' is 'remove from a high place'; compare the examples to keep the meanings separate.