It's likely that the usage of these will vary between English speaking countries (and possibly person to person), so I can't speak for British or Australian English. As an American, I would probably use them in the following ways: Take a trip- I would say this is the one I would use most, and it sounds natural to me in every setting I can think of, present, past or future tense. "We took a trip to Rome." "We're taking a trip to Rome." Again, this is just my personal opinion, but I would say this one is the most common and useful to know. Make a trip- I don't use this so often, but it sounds most natural to me when applied to the present continuous tense when speaking about something that will happen in the near future. "We're making a trip to the store, do you want anything?" For some reason it sounds a bit weird to me in past tense, but definitely not wrong, and completely comprehensible. Have a trip- This one feels to me like it's speaking less about the actual action of being on a trip, and more about the timing or scheduling of the trip, if that makes sense. I don't think I would ever use it in present continuous, but it sounds fine to me in other tenses. "We have a field trip in a couple days." "He had a trip to Mexico last month, but it got canceled." (I suspect maybe British people might use this one differently, seeing as Americans tend to favor "take" in situations where Brits use "have". For example, "take a bath" in the US, but "have a bath" in Britian. Just speculating, though. You'd have to ask a British person for a better answer.) Anyways, hope that helps in some way. To be honest, this is a pretty nuanced question, and I doubt that using any one of these will cause confusion to a native speaker. All are completely understandable and will probably not be very noticeable in conversation. Sorry for the long answer. Good luck with your learning!