Bring vs. Take

Bring and take are words that a lot of people are confused about how to use. Is there a reason for this confusion? Some people grew up in regions or households where these words were consistently used in the wrong way. Others are just learning the English language. Once you learn the difference between these two words, you will automatically know which word to use.

You need to look at what action you want to be taken. People will bring things to you. You will take things to them.

Pretend you are at home, and you are wishing that your dinner would just appear in front of you. What would you say? Do you say, “I wish someone would take me dinner?” No, you would say, “I wish someone would bring me dinner.”

Now pretend you are in a restaurant. You have eaten most of your delicious meal, but you are full and cannot finish it. You want to take the rest of the meal home with you. You will be taking it away from where you are now to a different location.

In the following sentence, a stuffed bear gets to go home with one of the students from the school. See if you can figure out the mistake.

Apparently everyone gets to take a turn bringing the bear home to care for.

Were you able to find the mistake? Each student would take the bear home, not bring him home.

If the student was at home, he would say that he will take the bear to school. If the student was at school, he would say that he would take the bear home and bring him back the next day.

So the sentence should say, Apparently everyone gets a turn taking the bear home to care for.

What do you need to remember so you will know when to use each word? When an item is being moved from one place to another, items are brought to the speaker and taken away from the speaker. You will ask people to bring things to you and take things to others.

If you are in the living room, you wouldn't ask someone to take you some coffee. You would ask this person to bring you some coffee.

When dinner is done, you take the dishes and put them in the sink.

You want others to bring you good news, and you take money out of the bank.

And finally, you take out the trash, and you bring in the mail.

I hope you now understand the difference between bring and take and know when to use each word.