take a guess

Meaning

This informal expression is used to invite or challenge someone to make an estimate, prediction, or judgment when they do not know the exact answer. It is a friendly, conversational way to start a playful interaction or test someone's knowledge.

Examples

• How much do you think this jacket cost? Take a guess!

  How much do you think this jacket cost? Take a guess!

• If you had to take a guess, which city is the most populated?

  If you had to take a guess, which city is the most populated?

• Go ahead, take a guess at what's inside the box.

  Go ahead, take a guess at what's inside the box.

• I'm not going to tell you the answer; you have to take a guess.

  I'm not going to tell you the answer; you have to take a guess.

• Take a guess who I ran into at the supermarket today!

  Take a guess who I ran into at the supermarket today!

Common Mistakes

• ✗ Make a guess of how old he is.

  ✓ Take a guess at how old he is.

  While 'make a guess' is occasionally used, 'take a guess' is the far more natural collocation, and it is followed by the preposition 'at', not 'of'.

• ✗ Do a guess about the price.

  ✓ Take a guess at the price.

  English speakers do not use the verb 'do' with the noun 'guess'.

Related Expressions

Practice

• If you had to ___, how long do you think the drive will take?

  💡 Make an estimate.

  Show answer

  take a guess

• Go on, ___! You might actually get it right.

  💡 Try to predict or estimate.

  Show answer

  take a guess