Taking Together vs. Taken Together – Which is Correct?
Both phrases are correct, but they serve different grammatical purposes. “Taking together” is an active -ing phrase meaning “when we consider items collectively,” while “taken together” is a passive or participial phrase meaning “when considered collectively.” Choose “taking together” for an evaluator and “taken together” for items being assessed jointly.
Taking Together or Taken Together – Which is Correct?
Taking together and taken together are both correct English expressions. The difference is grammatical rather than a matter of spelling or regional usage.
Taking together uses the present participle taking. It presents someone as actively considering or combining several things. It is commonly followed by an object, as in “Taking the figures together, we can identify a trend.”
Taken together uses the past participle taken. It describes several things that are considered collectively. The phrase often appears at the beginning or end of a sentence: “Taken together, the findings support the theory.”
The Best Trick to Remember the Difference
Use this simple subject test: ask who is doing the considering. If the sentence emphasizes the person or process doing the considering, use taking together. If it emphasizes the evidence, facts, or objects being considered, use taken together.
Compare these patterns:
- Taking the evidence together, the investigator reached a conclusion. The investigator is actively taking the evidence into account.
- Taken together, the pieces of evidence reveal a pattern. The pieces of evidence are being considered as a group.
| Word | Part of Speech | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| Taking together | Participial phrase | Actively considering things collectively | Taking the results together, the researcher identified a clear pattern. |
| Taken together | Past-participial phrase | Considered collectively | Taken together, the results point to the same conclusion. |
How to Use Taking Together
Taking together is an active participial phrase. It means “considering together,” “combining in one assessment,” or “looking at collectively.” The phrase usually introduces a sentence in which the grammatical subject is the person, group, or process doing the considering.
In formal writing, the most natural structure is often taking [objects] together. For example, “Taking the financial and environmental costs together, the project appears less attractive.” The phrase can also appear after the main clause, although that position is less common.
Because it contains the active form taking, the phrase should logically refer to an agent capable of taking or considering something. Avoid creating a dangling modifier such as “Taking together, the reports show a contradiction.” In that sentence, the reports are not actively taking anything; “Taken together, the reports show a contradiction” is better.
Example 1: Taking the witness statements together, the attorney noticed several inconsistencies.
Example 2: Taking together the cost, timing, and risks, the committee rejected the proposal.
Example 3: The analyst evaluated the two data sets, taking them together rather than examining them separately.
What are the Different Forms of Taking Together?
The phrase is built from the irregular verb take. The principal forms are take, takes, taking, took, and taken. In the expression taking together, taking is the present participle or -ing form.
- Present: take or takes together
- Continuous form: taking together
- Past: took together
- Perfect or passive participial form: taken together
The phrase itself does not change for singular or plural subjects. The surrounding verb changes instead: “She is taking the factors together” and “They are taking the factors together.”
Etymology of the Phrase Taking Together
Take comes from Old Norse taka, meaning “to take” or “to grasp,” and entered Middle English through contact with Scandinavian languages. Over time, English expanded its meaning to include accepting, considering, interpreting, and including something. The combination taking together developed from this broader figurative sense of considering several things as one group.
How to Use Taken Together
Taken together is a past-participial phrase meaning “considered as a group” or “viewed collectively.” It is especially common in academic, analytical, legal, journalistic, and professional writing.
The phrase often appears at the beginning of a sentence followed by a comma: “Taken together, these developments suggest a change in policy.” It can also appear after the relevant items: “The findings, taken together, suggest a change in policy.”
Unlike taking together, this expression does not normally identify the person doing the considering. Instead, it focuses on the facts, ideas, events, or pieces of evidence that produce a combined meaning.
Example 1: Taken together, the survey responses indicate strong support for the proposal.
Example 2: The symptoms, taken together, suggested that the patient needed further testing.
Example 3: Taken together, the novel’s recurring images create a sense of isolation.
What are the Different Forms of Taken Together?
Taken is the irregular past participle of take. The complete verb forms include take, takes, taking, took, and taken. In taken together, taken functions as a past participle in a reduced passive or participial construction.
The phrase can be expanded to make the meaning clearer:
- Taken together, the facts are persuasive.
- When taken together, the facts are persuasive.
- When they are taken together, the facts are persuasive.
These versions express essentially the same idea, but the shorter form is more concise and is particularly useful in formal prose.
Etymology of the Phrase Taken Together
Taken is the historical past participle of take, a verb related to Old Norse taka. The expression taken together uses the figurative meaning of take associated with considering or interpreting information. It therefore means that separate elements are treated as one combined body of evidence or meaning.
Related Concepts
Understanding participles, active and passive constructions, and dangling modifiers makes the distinction between these expressions much easier to recognize.
- Present participle: A present participle is an -ing form of a verb, such as taking. It can describe an ongoing action or introduce a participial phrase.
- Past participle: A past participle is a verb form such as taken. It appears in perfect tenses, passive constructions, and participial phrases.
- Active voice: An active construction emphasizes the person or thing performing an action. “Taking the evidence together, the judge reached a decision” emphasizes the judge’s activity.
- Passive voice: A passive construction emphasizes what receives an action. “Taken together, the facts support the conclusion” emphasizes the facts being considered.
- Dangling modifier: A dangling modifier appears to modify the wrong subject. “Taking together, the reports reveal a pattern” is faulty because the reports cannot actively take anything together.
Examples from Media and Literature
Both expressions appear frequently in analytical writing, including reviews, news reports, academic discussions, and literary criticism.
- News analysis: “Taken together, the recent policy announcements suggest that the administration is changing direction.” The passive phrase summarizes several separate developments.
- Scientific reporting: “Taken together, the experimental results provide evidence for the proposed explanation.” The results are treated as a collective body of evidence.
- Literary criticism: “Taken together, the recurring images of water and darkness reinforce the novel’s central theme.” The phrase shows how separate literary details create a combined effect.
- Film criticism: “Taking the dialogue and visual symbolism together, the reviewer interpreted the final scene as deliberately ambiguous.” The reviewer is the implied person doing the interpreting.
- Business reporting: “Taking together the projected costs and expected demand, the company postponed the launch.” The active phrase identifies the company as the decision-maker.
Practice Exercises
Choose the correct phrase, taking together or taken together, to complete each sentence.
- __________, the three reports reveal a consistent pattern.
- __________ the costs and benefits, the board approved the plan.
- The clues, __________, point to a single explanation.
- __________ the available evidence, the investigator reached a cautious conclusion.
- __________, the character’s actions appear more understandable.
Answer Key
- Taken together — The reports are being considered collectively.
- Taking together — The board is actively considering the costs and benefits.
- Taken together — The clues are the items being combined.
- Taking together — The investigator is doing the considering.
- Taken together — The character’s actions are being viewed collectively.
Taking Together Synonyms
| Synonym | Definition |
|---|---|
| Considering together | Actively examining multiple things as a group |
| Assessing collectively | Evaluating several elements in one assessment |
| Combining | Bringing separate elements into one analysis |
| Weighing together | Considering multiple factors at the same time |
Taken Together Synonyms
| Synonym | Definition |
|---|---|
| Considered collectively | Viewed as a group rather than separately |
| Viewed together | Examined in combination |
| In combination | Operating or being interpreted jointly |
| Collectively | As a whole or as a unified group |
Frequently Asked Questions
Question 1: Is “taking together” grammatically correct?
Yes. “Taking together” is correct when it describes someone actively considering or combining several things. For example, “Taking the evidence together, the jury reached a verdict.”
Question 2: Is “taken together” grammatically correct?
Yes. “Taken together” means “considered collectively” and usually modifies the facts, findings, objects, or ideas being assessed. For example, “Taken together, the findings support the hypothesis.”
Question 3: Which is more common: “taking together” or “taken together”?
“Taken together” is generally more common because it is a concise way to summarize the combined significance of several facts or items. “Taking together” is also correct but usually requires an explicit or clearly implied person doing the considering.
Question 4: Can I use “taking together” and “taken together” interchangeably?
No. They express related but different grammatical viewpoints. Use taking for the active process of considering and taken for the items that have been considered collectively.
Conclusion
Taking together and taken together are both correct, but they are not interchangeable. Use taking together when a person or group is actively considering multiple elements. Use taken together when those elements are being viewed collectively. Pro Tip: Choosing the precise phrase improves clarity and strengthens your professional reputation, especially in academic, legal, and business writing.
