What is difference between the following sentences?
I take a taxi/bus/train.
I get a taxi/bus/train.
ambiguityamerican-englishbritish-englishdifferencesword-choice
What is difference between the following sentences?
I take a taxi/bus/train.
I get a taxi/bus/train.
Best Answer
In the realm of travel, to take something is to use it as your mode of transportation:
In British English, get is more common than take for this usage:
In American English, to get a taxi, etc. is to obtain its use. I might ask my hotel concierge to Please get me a car to South Station, or inquire of my host Is it easier to get a cab on Lexington or Park Avenue? Similarly, to get a flight is to reserve a seat on a flight, whereas to actually fly is to take a flight.
There are a variety of other ways to express the same— I can catch my transportation (e.g. catch the Shinjuku Line, catch a flight, catch bus #42), ride in/on it (e.g. we rode the tram back to Palm Springs), or simply go on/in/by something (e.g. Can I reach LAX by Metrorail?) among others. But not all of these may apply to all modes; we fly rather than ride aircraft, for example, even though we are passengers and not pilots most of the time (e.g. We always fly Air New Zealand to Fiji).