ENGLISH
REFERENCE

take sth into account

idiom.
B2 Upper Intermediate Oxford

idiom. to think about a specific fact or detail when you are making a decision or judging a situation.

idiom. to consider a particular factor or circumstance as part of a deliberative process; often used in formal or professional decision-making contexts.


SIMPLE

You must take the weather into account when planning a hike.

CONTEXTUAL

The judge took his clean criminal record into account before deciding on a lighter sentence.

COMPLEX

When calculating the projected annual revenue, the analysts failed to take into account the potential impact of new trade tariffs.

Usage

The object 'something' can be placed after 'take' or after 'account' if it is a long clause.

Teaching tip

Contrast with 'consider'; while 'consider' is a general verb, 'take into account' suggests that the specific detail is one of many pieces of evidence being weighed.

Pitfall

We took into account of the costs.We took the costs into account.Do not use 'of' after 'account'; the phrase already functions as a transitive unit.

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