Is it ‘make decision’ or ‘take decision’? If you’re wondering about the correct usage, we’ll cover that in this article and talk about other common confusing English phrases.
But the short answer is that ‘make decision’ is correct. It’s never ‘take decision.’ That’s simply ungrammatical.
So, you’ve already learned that the correct usage of the phrase is ‘make decision.’ It can be tricky remembering the correct English phrases, such as ‘please find the attached file’ and ‘sorry to bother you/sorry for bothering you.’
So, what’s the difference between ‘make decision’ and ‘take decision’? The former is the correct usage, and the latter is the incorrect usage.
You wouldn’t ask someone to ‘take a decision.’ Instead, you’d ask them to ‘make a decision.’
Some say the phrase 'take a decision' is British in origin, but there's no concrete evidence to back that up.
Let’s take a look at the definition of the words in the phrase.
The Merriam-Webster definition of ‘decision’ is “the act or process of deciding,” “a determination arrived at after consideration: conclusion,” “a report of a conclusion,” “promptness and firmness in deciding: determination,” “win, specifically, combat sports: a victory based on points awarded.”
It also means “to win by being awarded more points than (an opponent).”
Synonyms of the word include:
The definition of ‘make’ according to Merriam Webster is “to bring into being by forming, shaping, or altering material: fashion,” “to lay out and construct,” “compose, write,” “to put together from components: constitute,” “ to cause to happen or to be experienced by someone,” “to cause to exist, occur, or appear: create,” “to favor the growth or occurrence of,” “to fit, intend, or destine by or as if by creating,” and “enact, establish.”
It can also mean “to execute in an appropriate manner,” “set, name,” “to cause to be or become,” “appoint,” “to cause to act in a certain way: compel,” “to carry out (an action indicated or implied by the object,” “to perform with a bodily movement,” “to frame or formulate in the mind,” “to set in order,” “prepare, fix,” “to assemble and set alight in the materials for (a fire),” “to shuffle (a deck of cards) in preparation for dealing,” “to amount to insignificance,” “to count as,” “to form the essential being of,” “to form by an assembling of individuals,” “to cause or assure the success or prosperity of,” and “to conclude as to the nature or meaning of something.”
So, what does it mean to make a decision? It means making a choice between two or more options about something or someone.
People most commonly use the phrase ‘make a decision’ rather than ‘make decision.’ So, let’s take a look at how you’d use this phrase correctly in a sentence.
Take a look at some examples:
As you already learned, the correct usage of the phrase is ‘make a decision.’ You’d never say, ‘take a decision’ or ‘take decision,’ because it doesn’t make grammatical sense.
If you’re still learning English and finding it hard to remember the correct usage for certain phrases, you can always pop back over here and browse our library of articles dedicated to explaining confusing words and phrases.
We encourage you to share this article on Twitter and Facebook. Just click those two links - you'll see why.
It's important to share the news to spread the truth. Most people won't.
