Bring and Take: Use them Correctly

Nearly everyone I know, including my wife, uses "bring" incorrectly, using it when she should use "take. For example, she will ask one of my sons to "Bring the dishes into the kitchen" when they are both in the dining room. This drives me bonkers.

I have thought for years how to explain the difference to her (and everyone else) and finally realized that it has to do with "come" and "go." And that made it simple (not that it changed my wife's error).

If you can add "go" to the sentence, use "take." As in "Go into the kitchen and take the dishes."

If you can add "come" to the sentence, use "bring." That would be "Come into the kitchen and bring the dishes."

Because you wouldn't say "go into the kitchen" when you are standing in the kitchen, you would say "come" And you wouldn't say "come into the kitchen" when you are in the dining room, you would say "go."

There are some special cases with bring and take which probably cause all the confusion. But, still, the "come and go rule" works. One might say "Come into the kitchen with me and bring the dishes." This is correct even if you are in the dining room.

Or, you might say "I'll bring the dishes when I come into the kitchen" again while in the dining room. But in both cases, you are saying "come" so "bring" is the correct verb.

Remember, if you can put the word "go" in the sentence, use "take." If you can put the word "come" in the sentence, put the word "bring."