There are two sentences below:
- She took a shower in the bathroom.
- He showered in the bathroom.
What is the difference between 'take a shower' and 'shower' in meaning?
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2 Answers
There is very little difference in meaning; they are usually just two different ways to express the same thing: someone performed the act of showering.
"She showered in the bathroom" could mean that she regularly or routinely showered in the bathroom; "She took a shower in the bathroom" means that she performed one act of showering in the bathroom.
Take a shower is slightly less formal than shower.
The construction "take a shower" uses take as what's called a light verb in English. A light verb is one that doesn't really carry any meaning by itself, but is used in conjunction with a noun to create a phrase that has meaning. Usually, the light verbs in English are do, take, make, or have.
For example,
- take a shower = shower
- take a walk = walk
- take a rest = rest
- have a smoke = smoke (a cigarette, pipe, etc.)
- do a trick = perform a trick
- make a mistake = do something that is an error
References:
They both get wet who take a shower and shower.
They stand as though in driving rain
For some variable fraction of an hour.
Most lather, rinse; some lather, rinse, again.
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I may have to create some extra IDs to vote this up. +1 is not enough– PerryWCommented Jun 15, 2016 at 11:29
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@PerryW That idea is all wet. Surely it is more practical to simply shower TRomano with praise?– Dan BronCommented Jun 15, 2016 at 12:55
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While maybe not quite up to The Greatest SE Answer, Ever, it's heading in the right direction. I actually had a T Shirt made up of that one...– PerryWCommented Jun 15, 2016 at 21:16
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@PerryW. I may descend into madness yet and give that answer a run for its money, as there is always the definite article to be considered.– TimRCommented Sep 2, 2016 at 12:02