Shall I bring it or take it?

Another common confusion is when to use ‘bring’ and when to use ‘take’.

I’ll bring you to the hospital.
I’ll take you to the hospital.

Here both are possible and it doesn’t matter which one you say.

But sometimes it depends on your focus.

If your focus is on the destination, then bring makes more sense:

Bring a list of your regular medication to the appointment.

This means you’ll need the list at your appointment.

If your focus is on the point of origin, then take fits better:

Take this form with you to the x-ray department.

This means I don’t want you to leave the form here.

To remember the difference, you can memorise:

Come and bring it here.
Go and take it there.

Hope that helps, and you can read about other common confusions here, here and here.

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