make a decision or take a decision
How do you say "tomar una decisión"?. Take a decision or make a decision? I would like to know your opinions about that.
17 Answers
Hola Nila
To an English speaker, it may seem odd to think of "taking" a decision but it is a term often used in sports. For example, if a boxing match goes to a decision, then the winner takes the decision. Moreover, it is actually proper English (and Spanish) to say so.
Although it is uncommon to hear it expressed this way in English, to make a decision implies the generation of choices that must be decided between. Once the options have been generated, it is now time to take one of these options and discard the rest (i.e. taking your decision). When you take the option, you own that decision, and are no longer involved with the other possibilities that you made for yourself earlier.
The word decide (both in Spanish and in English) comes from Latin and means literally "to cut off." If you have made options from which to choose (i.e. made a decision) then you have in essence made your cut-off point (a cross roads where one option will continue and the rest will be cut off). It is in taking a single option at the cut off point that other previously made options are removed.
If you are in the act of deciding then the possible decisions have already been made (generated), it is up to you to take your decision from these previously made possibilities (i.e decisions). Look at these two sentences: I took as my decision (one option) and I lived with it. I made a decision (between the two options) and I lived with it. Which one seems to indicate more that you had actively chosen between on option or another? To me it seems clear that taking the decision implies a more active role choosing between one or the other.
Think about the different implications of using take and make. To take something indicates an ownership, a seizing of something. To make indicates a generation of something (i.e. bringing the possible decisions into being). Imagine that you are talking to someone about a recent shopping decision. "I had to make a decision between buying new shoes or a new belt, (i.e. the crossroads have been set up, the decision is made to either cut off the idea of buying a belt or to cut off the idea of buying shoes) and I took (as my decision) the belt."
At the same time, as languages evolve, they are, in essence, just communities of agreement (i.e. what a word/phrase means depends mainly on how it is used by a people). In English, it is quite common to say, "make a decision," and I dare say, more common than saying "take as a decision." as alluded to earlier:
To take a decision is used sometimes here in Britain but it is not common (to me it sounds a bit old-fashioned). If you say make a decision, you will be right every time.
I believe that the case is similar here in the US. It may be that the actual usage of take a decision has simply becoming obsolete. Language rests, after all, on usage, and the expression take a decision probably seems foreign to most native English speakers. For Spanish, however, which is much more closely related to Latin and thus has remained truer to its roots, I think (and I could be wrong) that this is not necessarily the case. Namely, in Spanish it is quite acceptable to say take a decision.
You might also hear someone say, "I accept your decision." This probably means that they don't necessarily agree with it, but they will go along with your choice. I have never heard anyone say "take a decision."
It is funny that you (Alicia-53) use the word accept in your example because this word actually means to take, willingly, what is offered or given. Namely, a decision that has been made (generated) is offered to you. You have to make your decision between "yes" or "no," and it is up to you to take, willingly, one or the other (will the decision you take be "yes" or "no") In saying "I accept your decision," the exact thing you are saying is, "I will take, willingly, your decision. This could also be rearranged to say I will take as my decision the decision that you took for yourself.
I'm not sure if this cleared anything up for you, or just raised more questions, but I hope that it helped.
I'd say make a decision.
At first I thought that the "make" and "take" a decision were used in different contexts, but after seeing your usage of it in another thread, I see that you are using "take " in the same context that I would use "make" so I guess it IS just a matter of personal opinion. I vote for "make" a decision.
If I could also add a car to this train...
99% of Spanish use "take" a decision because from their direct (latin of course) translation "tomar" translates into take. It is simply Spanglish and not correct for any forethought.
Being from the U.S. (where I had never heard of "take a decision" and have always insisted it is incorrect) but having lived in Europe now for the last 8 years I can say that I've heard many Europeans use the same and know that it comes from direct translations from other words in other languages and the consequent concept of "take", which is not that different if it weren't for our English tradition of using the other 4-letter word.
Additionally, more and more (recently) I have heard "take a decision" used in the media from formal sources (CNN Intl, BBC, and the sort). From my perspective we are witnessing the influence of what sounds better for non-native speakers slowly shaping the acceptance of both meanings. Likewise you tend to hear the use more formally related to business, where you can surely see "take" used with the simultaneous implication of "take action", "take initiative", "take an option", etc, which aids the acceptance and "normalcy" of use for non-native speakers.
In the end it's always interesting to realize the arbitrary use of many of the word combinations we use. "Make" and "do" are often mistaken by non-natives which when you stop to think, is justifiable....or "makes" sense: Why doesen't it "do sense"? Why can't we "do mistakes" and "make favors"? Or why can't we "do it happen" and Nike say "Just make it."? Afterall, we can "make a speech" or "do a speech" (or give) which apply to mean at the time of speaking not in the preparation....
Well, just side some thoughts.
In the end I hope the above perspective makes sense. ...and if not, you will have to take what I say and make do with it for now. :-o
--BEugeneB
Yo pienso que seria "take". Make no creo que sea correcto. Suena a algo asi como fabricar una decision.
Taking a decision would seem to imply that the decision belonged to someone else, but you have made it for them... that you have removed their decision (to take implies a transfer of possession)... but the decision would still be made, as in formed, by a process of thinking (one would hope!) through the options, working out what you want / what is best etc, putting all this together, and voila, a decision results.
Just like you might make a cake from its ingredients, you make a decision from the options.
One makes a decision. Yo hice el decision. No one takes a decision. 
That is one area that native speakers have no difficulty at all....
Although you got my vote for interesting post my intuition is as follows:
You are saying about different options and you decide take one. Those "options" or "choices" are nouns - so you can pick/take one...
Deciding from other hand is an active process. It's a verb. So when you decide to nominalize the process into decision - it still makes sens to "make" it.
Taking - as I feel it - implies that a decision was made by someone else and you accept it, so by saying "I took a decision" you deny responsibility for making it.
Hi Izanoni, yes, but, according to WR "Perhaps anyone could use "take" when he/she has to choose between two or more possibilities" And when I read your opinions, you seem to believe the opposite of that, don't you?.
Here is the short version:
Take a decision is almost never used (see caveat below).
Make a decision is the common way to say this.
In my post, I was only trying to make the point that it should be grammatically correct to use take, but it has become antiquated to do so.
Sorry for the mix-up.
As far as using take, it is uncommon to say you took the "decision", but if you name the object that your decision refers to then it is quite common to use take.
For example, it would not be odd to hear someone say, "I had to make a decision between buying a new sweater or buying a new belt and I took the belt.
In this case the speaker has used a form of the verb take along with the named object (the belt) that represents the decision that she made.
So if you would like to talk about the decision that you took (in English) then you must name that decision (i.e. I took the belt over the skirt; I took the car over the cash; I'll take a hamburger rather than a taco, etc)
I hope that this was a bit clearer than my initial post
Hi Izanoni, yes, but, according to WR "Perhaps anyone could use "take" when he/she has to choose between two or more possibilities" And when I read your opinions, you seem to believe the opposite of that, don't you?.
I don't think that I've ever heard anyone say "take a decision." I am a native English speaker
. The proper form is "make a decision."
I still think the most common usage in English is to "make" a decision.
I agree with you on that (as I stated in my previous post). I think that using the verb take in regards to a decision is rarely used and has probably become nearly obsolete as an expression.
In my everyday usage of the word, I also use the expression, "make a decision," rather than the expression, "take a decision." I was not trying to attack the common English usage of the phrase or the people who use this phrase (I would be attacking myself if I did). Furthermore, I sincerely hope I have not offended you in any way by quoting you to further my point.
My intention was only to clarify the reasoning and root of the phrase, and explain why, (albeit mostly in the past for our Amercanized English) the phrase could be used as a grammatically correct construct.
I hope that I did not offend you in any way by any of my comments. This was not my wish nor my intention, and if I did then let me say that I am truly sorry for any undue distress my words may have caused.
The example in my dictionary shows: to make a decision = tomar una decisión. I still think the most common usage in English is to "make" a decision. My examples are taken from my experience with spoken English in my area of the country. I do not follow sports, so I can't address that.
My prior Spanish teacher would sometimes disagree with our textbook. She would say, "In Cuba, we say it this way....." and I'm sure that would be the right way to say it in her area of the country.
So I would understand you if you said "I took this decision" but I would know that you meant "I made this decision." It's fine, really!
Hi Nila.
To take a decision is used sometimes here in Britain but it is not common (to me it sounds a bit old-fashioned). If you say make a decision, you will be right every time.
Espero que esto te ayude. Saludos.
I would say "make a decision." This means that a person decides something, makes a choice. You might also hear someone say, "I accept your decision." This probably means that they don't necessarily agree with it, but they will go along with your choice. I have never heard anyone say "take a decision."
After reading Alicia's message, I still went on with the doubt, because obviously I haven't understood her answer. But as I have read the Word Reference Forum, now I have some clues about the difference. Perhaps anyone could use "take" when he/she has to choose. But it seems that this expression sounds strange in American English. It is very interesting to know that it is not an unusual term.
