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Take
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Take

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Take[list,n]

gives the first n elements of list.

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Take[list,-n]

gives the last n elements of list.

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Take[list,{m,n}]

gives elements m through n of list.

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Take[list,seq1,seq2,…]

gives a nested list in which elements specified by seqi are taken at level i in list.

Details

  • Take uses the standard sequence specification:
  • Allall elements
    Noneno elements
    nelements 1 through n
    UpTo[n]elements 1 up to at most n, as available
    -nlast n elements
    {n}element n only
    {m,n}elements m through n inclusive
    {m,n,s}elements m through n in steps of s
  • Take can be used on an object with any head, not necessarily List.
  • Take[list,seq1,seq2] effectively extracts a submatrix from list.
  • Applying Take to a SparseArray object normally yields another SparseArray object.
  • Applying Take to an Association object yields an Association containing elements from the specified positions.

Examples

open allclose all

Basic Examples  (6)Summary of the most common use cases

Take the first 4 elements from a list:

In[1]:=1
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0gisao-lig
Out[1]=1

Take the last 3 elements:

In[1]:=1
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0gisao-nn8
Out[1]=1

Take elements 2 through 4:

In[1]:=1
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0gisao-c6q
Out[1]=1

Take the second element from an Association:

In[1]:=1
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0gisao-hdihi8
Out[1]=1

Take all but the first element from an Association:

In[1]:=1
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0gisao-dulbxx
Out[1]=1

Take every other element from 2 to 6 from an Association:

In[1]:=1
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0gisao-kcc9rd
Out[1]=1

Scope  (8)Survey of the scope of standard use cases

Take elements from the second to the second-to-last:

In[1]:=1
✖
https://wolfram.com/xid/0gisao-vyc
Out[1]=1

Take every other element:

In[1]:=1
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0gisao-il0
Out[1]=1

Take the first two rows of a matrix:

In[1]:=1
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0gisao-r4e
Out[1]=1

Take all rows, and the first two columns:

In[1]:=1
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0gisao-el4
Out[1]=1

Take the first two rows, and the last column:

In[1]:=1
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0gisao-eaj
Out[1]=1

Take a submatrix:

In[1]:=1
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0gisao-lr1

Take every other row and column:

In[1]:=1
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0gisao-np6

Take the first 4 elements if possible, else as many as are available:

In[1]:=1
✖
https://wolfram.com/xid/0gisao-w7zfi1
Out[1]=1

Generalizations & Extensions  (2)Generalized and extended use cases

Take works with any head, not just List:

In[1]:=1
✖
https://wolfram.com/xid/0gisao-tca
Out[1]=1
In[2]:=2
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0gisao-iaw
Out[2]=2
In[3]:=3
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0gisao-pu3
Out[3]=3

Take works with SparseArray objects:

In[1]:=1
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0gisao-rcz
Out[1]=1
In[2]:=2
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0gisao-iix
Out[2]=2

Applications  (2)Sample problems that can be solved with this function

Pick out a subimage:

In[1]:=1
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0gisao-plz
Out[1]=1
In[2]:=2
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0gisao-v4w
Out[2]=2

Sample every third cell in an image:

In[1]:=1
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0gisao-w28
Out[1]=1
In[2]:=2
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0gisao-rf
Out[2]=2

Properties & Relations  (5)Properties of the function, and connections to other functions

Take and Drop are complementary:

In[1]:=1
✖
https://wolfram.com/xid/0gisao-mls
Out[1]=1
In[2]:=2
✖
https://wolfram.com/xid/0gisao-xd0
Out[2]=2

Take is often equivalent to Part extraction with Range:

In[1]:=1
✖
https://wolfram.com/xid/0gisao-vkl
Out[1]=1
In[2]:=2
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0gisao-r5k
Out[2]=2
In[3]:=3
✖
https://wolfram.com/xid/0gisao-kwk
Out[3]=3
In[4]:=4
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0gisao-x5w
Out[4]=4

Take is equivalent to Part extraction with Span:

In[1]:=1
✖
https://wolfram.com/xid/0gisao-e6co5
Out[1]=1
In[2]:=2
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0gisao-elgznb
Out[2]=2
In[3]:=3
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0gisao-dlmexs
Out[3]=3

Take gives an array whose first dimensions are its arguments:

In[1]:=1
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0gisao-evg
Out[1]=1

Reverse[e] is equivalent to Take[e,{-1,1,-1}]:

In[1]:=1
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0gisao-b0fuu2
Out[1]=1
In[2]:=2
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0gisao-br3cc7
Out[2]=2
In[3]:=3
✖
https://wolfram.com/xid/0gisao-c4mmrm
Out[3]=3

Possible Issues  (1)Common pitfalls and unexpected behavior

Take always returns a list, even if it is just taking a single element:

In[1]:=1
✖
https://wolfram.com/xid/0gisao-lf2
Out[1]=1
Wolfram Research (1988), Take, Wolfram Language function, https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/Take.html (updated 2015).
✖
Wolfram Research (1988), Take, Wolfram Language function, https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/Take.html (updated 2015).

Text

Wolfram Research (1988), Take, Wolfram Language function, https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/Take.html (updated 2015).

✖
Wolfram Research (1988), Take, Wolfram Language function, https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/Take.html (updated 2015).

CMS

Wolfram Language. 1988. "Take." Wolfram Language & System Documentation Center. Wolfram Research. Last Modified 2015. https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/Take.html.

✖
Wolfram Language. 1988. "Take." Wolfram Language & System Documentation Center. Wolfram Research. Last Modified 2015. https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/Take.html.

APA

Wolfram Language. (1988). Take. Wolfram Language & System Documentation Center. Retrieved from https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/Take.html

✖
Wolfram Language. (1988). Take. Wolfram Language & System Documentation Center. Retrieved from https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/Take.html

BibTeX

@misc{reference.wolfram_2025_take, author="Wolfram Research", title="{Take}", year="2015", howpublished="\url{https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/Take.html}", note=[Accessed: 21-April-2025 ]}

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@misc{reference.wolfram_2025_take, author="Wolfram Research", title="{Take}", year="2015", howpublished="\url{https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/Take.html}", note=[Accessed: 21-April-2025 ]}

BibLaTeX

@online{reference.wolfram_2025_take, organization={Wolfram Research}, title={Take}, year={2015}, url={https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/Take.html}, note=[Accessed: 21-April-2025 ]}

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@online{reference.wolfram_2025_take, organization={Wolfram Research}, title={Take}, year={2015}, url={https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/Take.html}, note=[Accessed: 21-April-2025 ]}