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Why does "take for granted" have to have the "for" in the phrase?

For example, why can't we use:

  • I took my dad's contributions as granted
  • I took my dad's contributions granted

The correct form is obviously, "I took my dad's contributions for granted" - but why is it specifically "for granted"?

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    Compare I took his criticism stoically and I took his criticism as sour grapes. If the highlighted element adverbially modifies the verb (took), no preposition is needed. But if it modifies the noun (his criticism) there has to be a preposition indicating the relationship between the noun and the text that's modifying it. Same with I took his contribution for granted and I took his contribution willingly.
    – FumbleFingers
    Commented Aug 6 at 18:55

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See this page for some of the history of the phrase. I think the answer is that the phrase dates to the 1600s, and "take for" was a more common usage then. To "take X for Y" could be understood as "perceive X to be Y." We hear it in somewhat old-fashioned expressions like "Do you take me for a fool?" In Hamlet, Hamlet accidentally kills Polonius, mistaking him for the king, and apologizes to his corpse, "I took thee for thy better."

While this usage is no longer common, some based on it still are: notice I just said "mistaking him for" in the last sentence.

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    +1. The skids are already greased for this construction in late Middle English; we find "take X for Y" constructions with the meaning "accept X for Y" => "understand X to be Y".
    – TimR
    Commented Aug 6 at 18:55
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    @TimR we can still say 'I'll take the thought for the deed' (accept the intention as being equivalent to the act).
    – Michael Harvey
    Commented Aug 6 at 19:06
  • @MichaelHarvey Or that the road to hell is paved with good intentions :-)
    – TimR
    Commented Aug 6 at 19:56
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    We also still take something for what it is (or for what it’s worth).
    – Janus Bahs Jacquet
    Commented Aug 7 at 8:03

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