He took {my hand} {me by the hand}

[Sang-heui, Kim]

Hi, teachers.

Thanks for the answers.

Here comes a question.

He took my hand.
He took me by the hand.

Two sentences have the same meaning?
If not, what's the difference?

All Peace.

[Alan]

The second suggests taking the hand in order to lead someone somewhere, while the first simply means to physically take hold of the hand (possibly, but not necessarily, for this purpose). In practice, however, the two are usually interchangeable.