When to “BRING” and when to “TAKE”

ENGLISH GRAMMAR MADE EASY

Andrew Yiannakis, Ph.D., Research Professor, University of New Mexico

BLOG #15: To BRING  or To TAKE?

Often, the two terms can be used interchangeably with no loss in meaning. In certain circumstances, however,  it makes more sense to use one over the other. The distinction speaks to whether the action in question involves movement toward you, or movement away from you.

Two examples of correct usage:

“Take me with you” (movement away) or,
“Bring me the book” (movement toward)

It seems more logical to use the term “bring” when the action involves  movement toward you, as in “bring the book to me”, or simply “bring me the book”.

When the implied action involves movement AWAY from you,  the verb “to take” makes more sense. For example, “I want you to take my car to the dealer” and not, “I want you to bring the car to the dealer”, because the action involves movement away from you. However, it is correct to say, “please bring me my car from the dealer”. This action involves movement toward you, hence “to bring” is the correct form.

Short versions include “take it away”
(involves movement away from you) and “bring it here” (involves movement
toward you).

In summary, if the action implies movement TOWARD you, then the correct form is “TO BRING”. If, on the other hand, the implied action involves
movement AWAY from you (or your location), then the correct form is to “TAKE”.

If interested, the rule comes from Linguistics and is an example of
“Deixis”,  which speaks to positional contexts. Enough? OK, I get it so please take it away!!!

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Author: andrewyiannakis

Andrew Yiannakis, Ph.D., is currently a Research Professor at the University of New Mexico (USA). He is also Professor Emeritus from the University of Connecticut where he taught the Sociology of Leisure, Tourism & Sport, as well as Research Methods and Computer Applications. He also holds the rank of 8th Dan in Traditional Jujutsu and a 6th Dan in Traditional Kodokan Judo. He is the Director of the Institute of Traditional Martial Arts at the University of New Mexico. He is also the Chair of the Traditional Jujutsu Committee of the USJJF. As an amateur historian, he has led several expeditions to Greece to conduct research at Thermopylae, and locate the path the Persians used in 480 BC to encircle, and defeat King Leonidas and the Greek allies. Prof. Yiannakis has published extensively in a number of areas.

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