Last vs. Take

Last and Take can be interchangeably used in many circumstances when it comes to the duration of time. In some cases they cannot because they are different in usage. And of course with the first use, they may have a subtle difference in meaning. What follows is a clarification about the difference between the two verbs:

Last is usually intransitive and the subject is the thing to be finished.

It is used to talk about the certain length of time an event continues for.Notice that it focuses on a thing or an event:

- My exercise lasted around two hours.
- His trip to Los Angles lasted two weeks.

Take is a transitive verb which is used to talk about the amount of time you need in order to go somewhere or to do something.It is commonly used in an idiomatic expression:

It takes (noun or pronoun)+(time)+(to infinitive).

- It took me three hours to get there.
- How long will the flight take?
- The game took her less than an hour to finish.

Notice that:

1- pronoun can not come with last .So, in the sentences 1&3 last cannot be used instead of take.

2- We use take when we concern with the length of time .last is a more mere observation.

- It took him only one day to complete the article.Wow,how fast he was finished
- The building took 2 years to be built. Ugh. It was a very long time.