[identity profile] pinkeuphoria1.livejournal.com posting in [community profile] fandom_grammar
This week, we’re going to answer the following question: “What are the differences in usage between "bring" and "take"? Are there regional and/or national differences?”. Tricky, isn’t it? Well, not anymore, since we’re about to solve the mystery surrounding “bring” and “take”, with help from the characters of "How I Met Your Mother"!


Bring vs Take

Let’s start with the basic definitions for the two words. Both have various meanings, especially when together with other words, but we’ll only focus on the definitions that interest us right now. Here’s what Longman’s Dictionary of Contemporary English offers us:

bring = to take something or someone with you to a particular place, to get something for someone and take it to them.
take = to move or go with someone or something one place to another.

It still sounds pretty confusing though, especially since the dictionary uses “take” to define “bring”. Longman jumps to help with an explanation regarding word choice:

bring means to carry something or come with someone to a place where you are or to a place where you are talking about.
take means to carry something or go with someone to another place, away from where you are or where you are talking about


So it all depends on the speaker’s perspective regarding the destination. “Bring” involves movement towards the speaker, while “take” involves movement away from the speaker.

”Ok, guys, I’ll go get another beer”, Ted says, standing up from their usual table.
“Can you bring me one too?” Robin asks. “Tonight, I plan on forgetting all about the existence of that tape.”
“Oh, you mean the one with your video, Ms. Robin Sparkles?” Barney says, grinning proudly. “Well, it’s here to stay, so you might as well ask Ted to bring you a few more.”


“Bring” is used by both Robin and Barney, since the destination is the same in both their perspectives: the table which they’re sitting at.

”Hey, Ted, Lily called saying she forgot her wallet at home. Can you take it to her at kindergarten?” Marshall asks, looking up from the book he’s been reading.
“But I’ve got a date in two hours!” Ted says.
“Yeah, man, but I’ve got a 30-pages paper to write for tomorrow morning and I’m still not done with reading! Come on, it’s enough time for you to get there!” Marshall insists.
“Alright, fine, I’ll do it.” Ted says.


In this case, Ted leaves his current destination and goes to a different one, Lily’s workplace. He’s the one doing the action, so he uses “take”. But if we imagine Lily calling Marshall and asking for her wallet, it’d probably go like this:

”Hey, Marshall, I know you’re studying, but can you bring me my wallet? I forgot it at home.” Lily explains on the phone.


In conclusion, it’s as simple as this: you ask people to bring you things where you are, but you take things to people who are at a different place than you. If you’re not sure which to choose, always remember to consider from what perspective you’re thinking and what the destination is.

Exceptions to the rule

There are a few simple exceptions, where the classic “bring vs take” rule doesn’t apply.

It’s important to remember that, when dealing with idioms (“bring back to life”, “take it easy”, “take a bath”) or phrasal verbs (“bring up”, “take down”), the rule doesn’t apply. Each idiom and phrasal verb has a meaning of its own, so they are all used according to this, not to the classic rule.

Also, the rules aren’t that important when it comes to an event which will happen in the future and where nobody has arrived yet. The trick here is that you get to decide on the perspective you want to adopt. You can either take or bring something to work.

Regional and national differences

It appears that in American English, the distinction between the two isn’t as clear as in British English. There is a bit more freedom regarding the use of “bring”. According to Merriam-Webster, the destination of “bring” refers to movement “toward the place from which the action is being regarded”. So in many cases, "bring" can be used instead of "take", although it might sound weird to those who follow the classic rule regarding the two.

The Irish seem to be less strict regarding “bring”, as well, similar to the Americans. But in both cases, there’s no change regarding “take”. It can’t replace “bring” when asking someone: “Bring me a cup of coffee”, for instance. In conclusion, "take" is still bound to the location and is used according to the rule mentioned above.



So remember! The general rule is the following: "bring" means movement toards the speaker, while "take" means movement away from the speaker!

Sources: Longman dictionary of Contemporary English, Merriam Webster, eslcafe.com, quickanddirtytips.com, wikihow.com, english.stackexchange.com
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