So, here we are and this is David

and he is carrying some boxes from the office to a lorry. Okay? So David is here on the right, coming out of the office and he his carrying the boxes to the lorry.

And at the office, he meets his manager and the manager says "What are you doing?"

And David replies "I am taking these boxes to the lorry." Okay?

Now, the same situation, David is taking... (sorry....) David is carrying the boxes to the lorry but now he has arrived at the lorry. Okay?

He is in front of the lorry and again, he meets his manager and the manager says "What are you doing?"

And this time David replies: "I am bringing these boxes to the lorry."

So this time he says "bringing" and at the top, he said "taking". Okay?

So why is there a difference? That is the reason for this lesson. We are going to discuss when we use "take" and when we use "bring".

So at the top, we use "take" here because the speaker and the listener, they are not at the destination. Ok?

So the destination is here. It is the lorry.

But the speaker, David, and the listener, the manager, they are at the office. So they are far from the destination.

And we can also notice that the direction of the movement is away from the speaker.

So we can see the direction of the movement. It starts here and it moves away from the speaker. Ok? That is very important.

And at the bottom, since David... he has arrived at the lorry and that is where he meets his manager.

So we can notice that the speaker is at the destination. Alright? That is the big difference.

And this time, the direction of the movement is to the speaker. Or towards the speaker. Towards David.

So this time, the direction is to David and that is the second important difference. Ok?

So that is the basic difference between these two words and now we will look at it in more detail.

So first of all "take", the verb "take".

Well the past simple is "took" and the past participle is "taken". So it is an irregular verb.

Now let us look at the form. So here is the example sentence: "I am taking these boxes to the lorry."

So the structure is:

The verb "take", then the object, then the word "to" and then the indirect object (or the place). And we can see that here.

Or sometimes...sometimes we just have the verb "take" followed by the object.

So sometimes it is not necessary to specify the place or destination. For example, here: "I will take an umbrella."

We say I will take an umbrella if it is obvious where the destination is. If the destination is obvious or not important then we just say "take" and then the object.

Now the verb "bring."

Again, this is an irregular verb and the past simple and the past participle is "brought". So we pronounce this /brɔt/ (phonetic spelling)

And the verb "bring" has three different structures (or forms). This is the first one:

So the example sentence is "I am bringing these boxes to the lorry."

So the verb "bring", then the object, then the word "to" and then the indirect object.

Or we can say, for example "I will bring you an umbrella."

And here, we have the verb "bring" and then the indirect object and then the object.

So the order is different. The indirect object is before the object and we do not have the word "to".

And the third type of structure is the most simple one. And again, here, we can just have the verb "bring" and then the object.

So if we do not need to specify the place or the destination, we can just say "I will bring an umbrella", for example.

Okay, now let's look in more detail at ... when we use "bring" and when we use "take". Ok?

Now it is quite complicated. There are quite a few rules and exceptions. So I made this diagram for you to simplify it for you.

So this diagram shows you most of the situations. Not all of them, but the most common situations are shown on this diagram.

And there are in fact three situations on this diagram where we use "bring":

So this one. That is one, two and three. And the fourth situation is when we use the word "take"

So the best way for me to explain this is for me to show you each type of example. Each situation.

So I will show you three situations for "bring"

and in fact I will also show you three situations for "take". So I'll ... show you three examples for this situation here.

So I'm going to start with this one. This situation, number one. Okay?

So situation one is: "Sarah would like some sugar."

So here is Sarah. She is in a cafe, at a table and she would like some sugar.

So she says "Waiter, please bring me some sugar."

Okay? So why do we use "bring"? Well let's look at our diagram.

The diagram says (we start here, at the top) "Is the speaker at the destination now?"

Well Sarah is the speaker and the destination is in fact Sarah. Or the table, where Sarah is. So...because she wants the sugar at the table.

So the answer here is "yes" - The speaker is at the destination now.

So we answer "yes" here and so we use the word "bring". Very simple. Ok?

So this is very easy. If the person (or the speaker) is at the destination of the object, then we always use the word "bring"

And so the word "take" is wrong in this context.

And this arrow...this shows the direction of the movement. So the movement is going towards the speaker.

So now let us look at situation number two. This one.

Mark needs an umbrella

So here is Mark and here is David.

Mark says "I am in the park. It is raining and I'm getting wet!"

Now David is at David's house and he answers the phone and he says "Okay, I will bring you an umbrella."

"I will bring you an umbrella." Okay?

So why does David say "bring"?

Well let us look at the diagram: "Is the speaker at the destination now?"

This is the speaker and the answer is no. The destination is the park but David is at his house. So here we reply "no".

So now we ask this question: "Is the listener at the destination now?"

The listener is Mark and yes, he is at the park. So here we answer "yes".

And that is why we use the word "bring". That is the second rule. The second situation.

So "take" is wrong in this context. And the direction of the movement in is towards Mark.

It will be in the future when David arrives at the park. The direction of the movement is to Mark.

Now let's look at situation three.

Sarah and David organise a meal in a restaurant for tomorrow.

Here is Sarah and here is David.

And David asks Sarah "Would you like to go for a meal tomorrow to celebrate my birthday?"

Sarah replies "Yes, thank you. I will bring your present to the restaurant."

So why does Sarah say "bring"? Well, "Is the speaker at the destination now?"

Well no. Sarah is the speaker and she is at her home.

So we say "no" and we ask this question: "Is the listener at the destination now?" So is David at the destination?

Well the destination is the restaurant but David is at his home. So the answer is "no".

So we come down here and this question is "Will the speaker and listener be present at the destination?"

So will they both be at the restaurant? Well the answer is yes. Yes they will. That is where they are going.

And so the answer is "yes" and we use the word "bring". Okay?

And so "take" in this context is wrong.

If the answer here was "no", so in other words, if David was NOT going to the restaurant, then Sarah would have said "take".

Okay? So that is why this is important.

And the direction is towards... towards the listener in fact. It is towards David in the future.

Now let us look at situation four.

"David wants to go to the airport."

So this is David and he's asking a taxi driver: "Take me to the airport please!"

So is the speaker at the destination now? - No, David is in the street.

Is the listener at the destination now? Well the destination is the airport. And the answer is "no" - The listener is in a taxi.

So, "Will the listener... will the speaker and listener be present at the destination?"

Well what this question means is:- Will the speaker and listener be present at the destination and will they spend time together at the destination?

Well the answer is no. It is only David who is really going to the airport. It is only David who will spend time at the airport.

The taxi is only going to transport him to the airport. So the answer here is "no".

And that is why we come here and we use the word "take"- "take me to the airport". Ok? "Bring" is wrong in this context.

And this time, the arrow is in the other direction. The movement is away from David. That is important.

Now let us look at situation five:

"The dog needs a walk."

So there is a boy, John, who says to his dad "Dad, I am going to take the dog to the park."

Ok? So John and his dad are in the house and the dog wants to go to the park.

Is the speaker at the destination now?

No, the destination is the park but John is in the house - "no"

Is the listener at the destination? No, dad is also in the house.

Will the speaker and listener be present at the destination? Will they spend time at the destination?

Well no, it is only John who is going to the park. Dad is staying at the house.

So the answer is "no" and we use the word "take".

And "bring", in this context, is wrong.

And the direction is away from the house. Okay? It is away from the house.

Now the last situation. Situation six.

An invoice must go to a different department.

Ok? So this is Jane.

Jane works in the sales department and she is talking to John.

Jane says "Please take this invoice to the accounts department." Ok?

So is the speaker at the destination?

Well no, the destination is the accounts department but Jane is in the sales department.

Is the listener at the destination? No, he is also in the sales department.

And will the speaker and the listener be present at the destination? Will they spend time at the destination?

No, because Jane is staying here.

It is only the man who's going to the accounts department. So the answer here is "no" and so we use the word "take".

And "bring", in this context, is wrong.

And the direction is from the sales department to the accounts department. It is away from the speaker.

Okay, so those are the six situations, sorry the four situations,

And the context and perspective are very important when we are deciding whether to use "bring" or "take".

Sometimes, grammatically...sometimes we only know which one is correct if we know the context.

So sometimes both are correct but only correct with one context. Let me give you another example:

Mark has some photographs at home

and he would like to show those photographs to his manager at work tomorrow.

First of all, Mark is discussing the photographs at home with his wife.

So here is Mark. He is at home with his wife and he is discussing the photographs.

So he says to his wife "I will take the photographs to the office tomorrow."

Ok? So that.. if you look at the diagram, that is following all the rules of the diagram and that is why we say "take".

But then, if he calls his manager to discuss it with his manager,

then he will say to his manager "I will bring the photographs to the office tomorrow." Okay?

..because Mark is not at the destination (yet), his manager is not at the destination yet but they will both be at the destination tomorrow.

They will both spend time at the destination tomorrow. So that is why, in this context, he says "bring".

So he says "bring" when talking to his manager, but he says "take" when he is talking to his wife.

Okay? Because his wife will not be present at the destination. So context is very very important.

Exercise

So three questions. For each question, which of the two sentences is correct?

Question one: Sarah says "Thanks for bringing me here."

or "Thanks for taking my here."

Which one is correct? And I will give you five seconds...

Well the answer is the first one. Sarah is the speaker and she is at the destination. So she says "bringing".

Question two: David says "I'll bring you home after this drink."

or "I'll take you home after this drink." Which one is correct?

Well the answer is "I'll take you home after this drink."

Okay? And if you're not sure why, then go back and look at the example with the taxi. Ok? It's the same example as the taxi.

Question three: David says "Barman, please bring me the bill."

or "Barman, please take me the bill." Which one is correct?

And the answer is the first one: "bring" is correct because David is at the destination.

David is the speaker and he is at the destination because he wants the bill.

So we use the word "bring". Ok?

So that is the end of the lesson.

Here are two other videos which you might be interested in. This is a listening exercise and this is a grammar lesson.

Okay, thank you very much for watching. My name is Andrew at Crown Academy of English and I will see you next time. Bye bye!