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Bring Versus Take
Episode 61: June 12, 2007

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Grammar Girl here.

Today's topic is bring versus take.

Many listeners have asked me to talk about today's topic. Here's a caller:

Hi Grammar Girl. It's Clint in Chester, VA. I have two children reaching high school age and they still don't know the difference between bring and take. Can you put that on your web? Thanks.

Thanks to Clint and the others who asked similar questions. I also found a comment from a man named Farrel especially interesting. He is a foreigner and his impression is that everyone in his unspecified home country knows the difference between bring and take, and it's just we Americans who don't seem to be able to get it right. I don't know if that's true, but I'll take his word for it and try to do my part to fix the problem.

Whether you use bring or take depends on your point of reference for the action. The quick and dirty tip is that you ask people to bring things to the place you are, and you take things to the place you are going. As one listener named Simone put it, you bring things here and take things there. For example, I would ask Aardvark to bring Squiggly to my party next week, and then Aardvark would call Squiggly and ask, “May I take you to Grammar Girl's party?”

I am asking Aardvark to bring Squiggly because I am at the destination—from my perspective, Aardvark is bringing someone here. Aardvark is offering to take Squiggly because he is transporting someone to a remote destination—from Aardvark's perspective, he is taking someone there.

Here are two examples that help me remember.

First, think of a restaurant where you can get food to go. It's often informally called getting “take out.” When you get take-out food, you're moving the food from your location—the restaurant—to somewhere else—a destination. And it's take-out food, not bring-out food. You're taking the food to a destination.

Second, if I'm sitting at home feeling lazy, wishing dinner would appear, I would say, “I wish someone would bring me dinner.” I imagine Pat stopping at a restaurant and getting dinner to go. From my perspective, he is bringing me dinner because dinner is coming to my location.

I suspect that one reason some people are confused about bring and take is that there are many exceptions to the basic rules. For example, idioms such as bring home the bacon and take a bath and phrasal verbs such as bring up, bring about, take down, and take after don't comply with the rule that bring means to cause something to go to the speaker and take means to cause something to go away from the speaker.

Nevertheless, when your point is that an object or person is moving from one location to another, the rule is that things are brought to the speaker and taken away from the speaker. You ask people to bring things to you, and you take things to other people. You ask people to bring you coffee, and you offer to take the dishes to the kitchen. You tell people to bring you good news, and you take your camera to the beach. Remember Simone's trick: you bring things here and take things there, and take and there both start with the letter t.

As an aside, the past tense of bring is brought, as in, “He brought me flowers.” In some regions people say brung or brang, but it isn't standard English.

Finally, an interesting note is that the words come and go follow rules that are similar to those for bring and take. Come is like bring: you ask people to come here--to come to where you are. And go is like take: you tell people to go away—to move away from your location. Aardvark and Squiggly will come to my party, and when Aardvark calls Squiggly, he'll say, “Let's go to Grammar Girl's party.”

Web Bonus

Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of English Usage makes an interesting point that when people are imagining they are in a different location, they can use bring in a way that seems wrong, but that is actually correct from their mental perspective. For example, if I am planning a trip and I say to Aardvark, “You should bring suntan lotion to the beach,” Merriam-Webster's says this is correct if I am already imagining myself at the beach. I don't agree with this notion because it forces the listener/reader to make assumptions about what you are imagining, but I thought it was worth noting that credible sources allow for what appear to be rule-breaking uses.

That's all.

My e-mail address is feedback@quickanddirtytips.com, and my voice-mail line is 206-338-GIRL. I use voice-mail messages in the show like the one from Clint at the beginning of this podcast, but I don't return phone calls, so if you leave a voice mail, please leave your e-mail address in the message if you want me to try to respond. Thanks for listening.

Comments (32) for Bring Versus Take | Subscribe to Comment

Sara Says:
11/17/2008 3:16:36 PM

WHEW! I just read something incorrect and googled "bring vs take". I'm happy to report that I was right! I thought, "Maybe there's some exception for if the object you're taking/bringing is a person," but your example made it very clear that there isn't. Thanks for this easy-to-understand breakdown of bring and take!

confused;o Says:
10/13/2008 1:12:43 PM

i got confused here... i heard someone said "she'll bring me home food"... and the other person replied, "she'll bring you home food for sure"... but she's taking the food to her?

ebeth Says:
7/28/2008 8:37:58 AM

You state that the rule is that things are brought to the speaker and taken away from the speaker. What about when things go WITH the speaker? Would I say "I am going to bring my daughter with me to the pool" or "I am going to take my daughter with me to the pool" ? Thanks!

tina landon Says:
5/18/2008 4:06:28 PM

What is correct? Did you bring tommy with you? or Did you take tommy with you?

Patsy Says:
8/13/2007 4:34:32 AM

That would depend on who you are talking to. If you were talking to a person IN the house, you would say, "I go." (to answer the door) If you are talking to the person ringing the bell, you say, "I'm coming." (to answer your ring) ----- --------

David Says:
7/15/2007 5:46:48 PM

Hi Grammar Girl, LOVE your show...You mentioned that you couldn't find "inflation-adjusted numbers for international box office." http://www.boxofficemojo.com is a good source for this stuff. By the way, though, the 3 movies you list as the top 3 of all time are correct, but these aren't the inflation-adjusted champs, they're the "actual" champs. Adjusted for inflation, the top 3 are Gone With the Wind, Star Wars, and The Sound of Music. :) Thanks, David -----

Jerel Smith Says:
7/5/2007 4:27:21 PM

To my ear, the verbs bring and take have a locational point of view, similar to come and go. That point of view is adopted by the speaker; at times either origin or destiny works. But, for example, I would tell a friend I am taking salad to June's house. I would tell June I am bringing salad. There could be an element of courtesy here. Telling someone what you are bringing to them is a less self-centered point of view. -----

Maston Sillin Says:
6/30/2007 2:32:29 AM

"I will bring the candy to the party tonight." You are going to be there tonight, where he/she will be. (let's drop the politically correct language and speak only of the hostess) If I were talking to the hostess in the afternoon and she were at her job and did not intend to get to her party until well after it started AND I promised to deliver the candy to the party before she arrived, but I intended to leave immediately, I MIGHT be inclined to say: "I will take the candy to the party tonight", because we would not be there concurrently AND I would not consider myself to be a party guest if I left immediately. On the other hand, If I intended to stay at the party for a few minutes, I would revert to "bring". WOW! That was so convoluted, I'm exhausted. From: He who knows all -----

Tom Says:
6/17/2007 11:37:01 PM

I think if you are talking about the future, then you use whichever form applies in the future. What about this: "Are you taking your kids to Jake's wedding?" "Are you bringing your kids to Jake's wedding?" I might use the first form if: - I was not going to Jake's wedding - I still wasn't sure whether or not I was going - I was going to Jake's wedding, but I was not sure if the listener was going, and I wanted to be tactful (not sure about this one) - I was going to Jake's wedding, but only as a distant friend and to use the second form may sound condescending if the listener was closer to Jake than me (I wonder how regional these subtleties are...) Fortunately, thanks to the endless possibilities in English, I could always reword the sentence to avoid the trouble entirely. -----

Tom Says:
6/17/2007 11:20:14 PM

Firstly, it _does_ clarify that which is unclear. I choose to follow this rule because it keeps my language precise. Consider this example, your boss says "Bring the report to my office." vs "Take the report to my office." One implies that the boss is in her office, the other implies that the boss is not in her office but you are to take the report there anyway. Two different meanings. The difference may be more subtle in other examples. It is (to my ears, anyway) a descriptive rule, that is, it describes how the majority of people use these words naturally. If my example above makes sense to you, than it is also how you use these words naturally. Nobody made up this rule just to clarify these situations. Most English speakers (well, me at least) don't have to do mental acrobatics to decide where the speaker is in relation to that which is transported, just as they don't do mental acrobatics to decide what verb tense to use, or whether to use a plural or not - it just comes naturally. Secondly, even (especially) if it is not how you use the word, it is a standard English rule, and if you are required to write or speak in standard English then you must follow it (whether or not that means having to do mental acrobatics). If you are not required to follow standard English, then feel free to use the words interchangeably, just bear in mind that i) You might not be being as precise as you could be, and many English speakers may find your language ambiguous, and ii) Grammar snobs may look down their noses at you as either ignorant or a dangerous radical (which would be a problem if those particular snobs were employers, prospective employers, editors, etc). -----

dpeach Says:
6/16/2007 3:18:52 AM

I live in Mexico but am from the US. One of the interesting things here is that when someone rings the doorbell, you don't say "I'm coming," like in the US. They say "I go." Because if you are going to the door, then you are not coming. Why we say it the way we do in the US is strange. -----

Grammar Girl Says:
6/15/2007 12:56:57 AM

Honestly, my brain hurts too after reading all these posts. After the research I did for the show, my take on the topic is that there are some simple scenarios where the rules makes sense. For example, I think "He brought me flowers," and "Take this note to your teacher," are pretty straightforward examples where (I hope) everyone can agree that the use of "bring" and "take" make sense. And then, there are myriad instances where the direction of motion is irrelevant, or the word seems to be used incorrectly but it is an idiom, or the word use depends on whether you accept that the speaker is imagining himself or herself to be in another location, etc. I think my ears would prick up if I heard someone sitting next to a flower arrangement say, "He took me flowers," but I don't think I'd notice an error if I heard someone say, "I'm going to bring home some food tonight." Nevertheless, I don't think it is a useless rule because of the points Ferrel made about confusion when talking to people on the telephone and Mattson made (above) about not knowing whether the student lived with her mother. If you thought this was confusing, wait until you hear my episode tonight! I thought the topic would be fun, but I'm afraid it's another brain bender. Next week I'm definitely going to choose something more straightforward. -----

Carl Says:
6/14/2007 11:47:43 PM

I thought that I had a good grasp of "bring" and "take", but this episode started me thinking about how complex this whole situation is. If I'm talking about the future, should someone "bring" something to where I am now, or where I will be at that point? The example of "take-out" is also pretty ambiguous. Would it not be equally correct to call it "bring home food"? And why is it important to identify "take-out" with where you're taking it FROM, as opposed to where you're taking it TO? My brain hurts! -----

Derrick Schneider Says:
6/14/2007 11:37:21 PM

This rule makes sense, but I often say to a friend, "I'll bring the book to you." I would never say, "I'll take the book to you." I don't think I've ever heard that usage either. So is it because from the hearer's perspective I'm bringing, even though from my perspective I'm taking? -----

Sarah Says:
6/14/2007 3:26:11 PM

What about if you were to say, "I will bring the candy to the party tonight," (when talking to the host/hostess), which I think is a common usage? -----

Tim Says:
6/14/2007 1:46:20 PM

After reading all of this debate and confusion, I have to reiterate: Does this rule serve any valuable purpose? Does it help to clarify that which is unclear? Will people communicate better if they spend a moment doing mental acrobatics to decide where the speaker is in relation to that which is transported? Language is a tool. If someone was selling a screwdriver set in which only one could screw in, and another could only screw out, would you buy it? It is an unnecessary tool. This rule strikes me as an unnecessary tool. -----

Maston Sillin Says:
6/14/2007 2:14:27 AM

You said BRING the candy TONIGHT. You were absolutely correct. The listener is entitled to assume only that you will be there, at the party, TONIGHT. If you don't intend to be there, then TAKE would be correct. From: He who knows all things! -----

Maston Sillin Says:
6/14/2007 1:52:19 AM

If someone said to me: "My daughter always takes a pile of books home with her from school.", I would work the conversation around to learn "Why do the daughter and the speaker (parent) not live in the same house (home)." If I had uttered the same statement when my college aged daughter lived in one state and I in another. it would have been appropriate. -----

Rachel Says:
6/13/2007 11:17:09 PM

Well then, call me a descriptivist! ;) Thanks for the great link, and thank you very much for your answer. It's spot on and clears up my problem. Next time I stumble over 'just' in my writing, I won't worry about skinning my knees. Cheers. -----

Grammar Girl Says:
6/13/2007 10:59:13 PM

Ferrel (the listener who wrote in) made another interesting point. He said that he finds the misuse of "bring" and "take" particularily confusing when he's talking to someone on the phone and doesn't know where they are. For example, if we were on the phone and I asked him, "Will you bring candy to the party tonight?" he would assume I am already at the place where the party will be held. But he finds that in many instances this isn't the case. -----

Grammar Girl Says:
6/13/2007 10:41:34 PM

You're asking two questions, so I'll try to answer them both. 1. It is I versus It is me is an area where people disagree about what is acceptable. Traditionalists stand by It is I, but you are much more likely to hear people say It is me in conversation. There is an excellent discussion of the debate in the American Heritage Book of English Usage (http://www.bartleby.com/64/C001/052.html). From my reading, I would say that It is me is considered more acceptable than using who when a whom is called for. (But that's just my opinion.) 2. Just is a modifier, and it's fine to put it in front of him or he. It modifies the word or phrase it directly precedes. Again, people will argue about whether the sentence should read That's just him or That's just he. Strict traditionalists will argue for That's just he and descriptivists will argue for That's just him. -----

John Says:
6/13/2007 9:39:33 PM

Tim: "In the current topic, "bring" vs. "take," there is very little chance that anyone would misunderstand you if you used them in a non-standard fashion." And even if you break Grammar Girl's rule, you are still not necessarily using the words in a non-standard fashion. The American Heritage Dictionary says: "a parent may say of a child, for example, She always takes a pile of books home with her from school. This usage may sound curious to those who are accustomed to observe the distinction more strictly, but it bears no particular stigma of incorrectness or illiteracy." -----

Rachel Says:
6/13/2007 8:53:36 PM

So what about this, GG? I've always wondered about inserting "just." It sounds right to say something like, "That's just him; that's the way he is." It's wrong though, isn't it? I know that a favorite grammarian of mine says in spoken English it's OK to use who instead of whom sometimes, even when it's wrong. Is it just me who wonders about this, or is it just I? -----

Tim Says:
6/13/2007 8:21:35 PM

Well, I am looking at a larger context. You don't speak Middle English, or Old English, or Old French, or Old German, or even Latin for that matter. Aparently, we use the word "bring" with a new and finer meaning than in the past. Where once it meant "to carry," now it means "to carry toward the speaker." This is because language evolves and changes to suit the needs of its speakers with every generation. It has somehow survived, and even flourished, without widespread codification of rules and definitions. Language was "codified" only within the past 2-3 centuries. Prior to that, there was no agreement on how correct or standard language might be. The result is the beautiful and useful, though complex and confusing, language that we use today. It is undoubtedly important for us to adhere to common priciples (ie grammar and word definitions) so that we can effectively communicate with each other. I feel that you should only view these rules as tools that help to maintain that communication, rather than laws that should be preserved indefinitely.

JMGreen Says:
6/13/2007 5:04:32 PM

You missed the point. Grammar girl did not. The sentence was corrected in her post. -----

Patti Hobbs Says:
6/13/2007 4:36:13 PM

Maybe you're looking at a much larger context of history than I am, but I don't see that we are using "new and finer meanings of existing words". From my own experience and from what I've read, it seems that we are speaking and writing with less precision and using fewer finer meanings of words. I admit we do create a lot of words, but that seems to be more a factor of our technological society than greater facility in ability to communicate. -----

John Says:
6/13/2007 4:06:17 PM

But even that is not a misuse, since as the OED says, "bring" "implies motion toward the place where the speaker or auditor is, or is supposed to be." You could also use "take" in this sentence, since "take" implies motion away from the speaker or the speaker's point of reference. I think a real misuse would be something like: "When you come over tonight, don't forget to take the videos with you." -----

Tonia Says:
6/13/2007 2:20:37 PM

According to Grammar Girl, I have been using the word "bring" incorrectly when asking my son to take something to his grandmother, who lives downstairs from us. I say, "Jonathan, please bring this down to grandma." Probably, I interchange the words without notice, but (I guess) I will be more conscientious, although I think many people speak this way. That is to say, perhaps, it is more deleterious to misuse it in your writing. -----

John Says:
6/12/2007 10:42:32 PM

Merriam-Webster's Concise Dictionary of English Usage says that we use either word when the point of view is irrelevant. For instance Copies will be given to pupils to bring home to their parents. - NY Times March 5 1970 The direction of movement does not matter to the speaker or hearer - neither the speaker or hearer is a student or parent. So there is no confusion whether you use "bring" or "take" here. I am curious to see examples of people confusing these two words. -----

JMGREEN Says:
6/12/2007 5:07:44 PM

"it's just us Americans who don't seem to be able to get it right" Good grief! -----

Tim Says:
6/12/2007 2:26:11 PM

Grammar Girl, I think it is interesting to note that the of the verb "to bring" is descended from words meaning "to carry." Etymologically, "to take" descends from words meaning "to grasp," "to lay hold of," or "to gain possession." Though the rules you have offered are true for standard American grammar, it seems that the use of the verb "to take" when one means "to carry" would have been incorrect. "To bring" would have been appropriate for carrying in either direction. I am curious about your opinion regarding the evolution of language. Had we stringent grammar rules throughout history, we would never have had the opportunity to confuse the meanings of "to bring" and "to take." It seems to me that the strict application of codified grammar standards today might inhibit the growth of language. We have benefited greatly from the ability of language to gain new and finer meanings for existing words, to create new words where none existed, and to discard uses which no longer had relevancy for the speakers. Having said all that, I still love the show. It only think it is important to take grammar with a grain of salt. What is currently standard was once incorrect, or even meaningless. What is currently nonstandard may be strictly taught in several generations. -----

gail Says:
6/12/2007 12:36:12 PM

Thank you for addressing this issue on your show! "Take" has disappeared from the language, and "bring" is everywhere! Bring it here, take it there: very simple. Thanks. -----