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Two words that are often easily confused are bring vs. take.
Are bring and take interchangeable? In written English, no. There is a distinct difference.
Keep reading to find out how to avoid the incorrect use of bring and take. Stick around for the mini quiz at the end of this blog post to test your knowledge!
Table of Contents
When to Use Bring or Take in a Sentence
Bring and take are both verbs that mean to move something from one location to another or carry something with you. To understand which one to use, you need to consider the direction the object is going in.
Bring indicates movement toward someone or something. For example, bring it over here. Take indicates movement away from someone or something. For example, take it over there.
It generally depends on the speaker’s perspective. You ask people to bring things to you (here), and you take things with you when you are going somewhere (there).
Bring vs. Take Examples
Examples of bring in a sentence:
Bring me my slippers and my pipe.
Can you bring a pizza to my party?
Please bring your documents to our appointment.
She brought flowers home from the market.
Examples of take in a sentence:
The dog took the slippers and ran away.
Take those pizzas out of the oven.
The DMV took my documents from me.
Take those flowers with you.
Grammar Posts
Different From vs. Different Than
Bring vs. Take Quiz
Choose the correct word in each sentence. You can find the answers at the bottom of this blog post.
- Can you bring/take me to the airport, please?
- Bring/Take Rebecca over to visit us!
- Bring/Take some leftovers home or they’ll go to waste.
- If you want to get it sorted today, don’t forget to bring/take the money with you.
- Sally always brought/took her famous lemon meringue pie to my potluck dinners.
Final Thoughts on Bring and Take
I hope this article has helped you understand the difference between bring and take. These words are often interchangeable in informal speech but should be used correctly in writing to avoid confusion.
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Punctuation Posts
How to Use an Ellipsis: Chicago vs. AP Style
En Dash vs. Em Dash: When and How to Use Them
How to Use an Apostrophe (and Mistakes You Need to Avoid)
How to Use Commas (and Mistakes to Avoid)
Colon vs. Semicolon: When and How to Use Them
How to Use Quotation Marks (and the Difference between Single Quotes vs. Double Quotes)
Bring vs. Take Quiz Answers
- Can you take me to the airport, please?
- Bring Rebecca over to visit us!
- Take some leftovers home or they’ll go to waste.
- If you want to get it sorted today, don’t forget to take the money with you.
- Sally always brought her famous lemon meringue pie to my potluck dinners.
