英语语法：164 Bring Versus Take

Grammar Girl here.

Today's topic is bring versus¹ 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 reference² 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 perspective³, 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 Pat⁴ 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 exceptions⁵ 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 comply⁶ 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 regions⁷ 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 Usage⁸ 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 lotion⁹ 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 notion¹⁰ because it forces the listener/reader to make assumptions¹¹ about what you are imagining, but I thought it was worth noting that credible¹² sources allow for what appear to be rule-breaking uses.

That's all.

 

1 versus   

prep.以…为对手，对；与…相比之下

参考例句：

• The big match tonight is England versus Spain.今晚的大赛是英格兰对西班牙。
• The most exciting game was Harvard versus Yale.最富紧张刺激的球赛是哈佛队对耶鲁队。

2 reference   

n.提到，说到，暗示，查看，查阅

参考例句：

• We spent days going through all related reference material.我们花了好多天功夫查阅所有有关的参考资料。
• I like to have my reference books within my reach.我喜欢把参考书放到伸手可取的地方。

3 perspective   

n.视角，观点，想法

参考例句：

• You can get a perspective of the whole city from here.从这里你可以看到城市的全景。
• We may get a clear perspective of the people's happy lives.我们知道人民对幸福生活的展望。

4 pat   

n.轻拍，拍打声；vt.轻拍，拍打；vi.轻跑，轻击；adv.适时，彻底；adj.油腔滑调的，恰好的，合适的

参考例句：

• Could you hear the pat?你能听到轻轻的拍击声吗？
• He gave her a reassuring pat on the shoulder. 他轻拍了一下她的肩膀让她放心。

5 exceptions   

例外( exception的名词复数 )； 不包括在内的人（或物）； 规则的例外； 例外的事物

参考例句：

• Most children like sweets, but there are some exceptions. 大多数孩子喜欢吃糖果，但也有一些例外。
• Such exceptions do not invalidate the rule. 这些例外并不证明此规则无效。

6 comply   

v.遵照，照做，应允，顺从，服从

参考例句：

• She was told to pay the fine,but refused to comply.她被通知交纳罚款，但她拒不服从。
• Candidates must comply strictly with these instructions.候选人必须严格遵守这些指示。

7 regions   

n.地区( region的名词复数 )；[数学]区域；（艺术、科学等的）领域；行政区

参考例句：

• A flying doctor service operates in remote regions. 在偏远地区有飞行医生服务。
• More powers are gradually being devolved to the regions. 正逐步向地方下放更多的权力。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 usage   

n.惯用法，使用，用法

参考例句：

• I am clear about the usage of this word at last.这个词的用法我算是弄明白了。
• The usage is now firmly established.这种用法现已得到确认。

9 lotion   

n.洗剂

参考例句：

• The lotion should be applied sparingly to the skin.这种洗液应均匀地涂在皮肤上。
• She lubricates her hands with a lotion.她用一种洗剂来滑润她的手。

10 notion   

n.概念，意念，看法

参考例句：

• One common Chinese notion is that the elders ought to be respected.中国人共有的一种观念是长者应受到尊敬。
• He had a sudden notion to visit all his relatives.他心血来潮，突然想去拜访他所有的亲戚。

11 assumptions   

假定，臆断( assumption的名词复数 )； （责任的）承担； （他人债务的）承继； [the A-][基督教]1)。 圣母升天

参考例句：

• Their reasoning was based on a set of unstated assumptions. 他们的推理是以一系列未说明的假定为基础的。
• Your argument is based on a set of questionable assumptions. 你的论证建立在一套有问题的假设上。

12 credible   

adj.可信任的，可靠的

参考例句：

• The news report is hardly credible.这则新闻报道令人难以置信。
• Is there a credible alternative to the nuclear deterrent?是否有可以取代核威慑力量的可靠办法？