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  1. He took revenge on the trouble she made.
  2. He revenged the trouble she made.

What is the difference between two sentences in meaning? And why do I have to use verb phrase like 'take revenge on' instead of the word, 'revenge' though the two (take revenge on and revenge) has the same meaning?

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  • Is this an actual quote you read somewhere? I feel that the second sentence should use the word avenged rather that revenged.
    – Stephen C
    Mar 10, 2017 at 4:17

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Neither of your sentences is idiomatic.

With the noun revenge

  • the preposition for introduces the offense.

    Hamlet takes revenge for his father's murder.

  • the preposition on introduces the person who committed the offense

    Hamlet takes revenge on Claudius for his father's murder.

So what you want is "He took revenge on her for the trouble she caused."

The verb revenge may be either transitive or reflexive:

  • The transitive verb takes the offense as its object

    Hamlet revenged his father's murder

  • The reflexive verb employs the same prepositional complements as the noun

    Hamlet revenged himself on Claudius for his father's murder.

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