Taking Vs Bringing

I am eager for the moderators and other members to answer you because those two verbs confuse me, too. (I even understand that there are some differences between American and British English when it comes to those two words.)

I checked my books at home and found something informative. Some sources say that either verb is acceptable for this kind of sentence: "If we are going to the zoo, shall we ____ the camera?" The reasoning behind the use of "bring" is that the speaker is already thinking of being at the zoo.

Sources: Fowler's Modern English Usage (third edition), page 117;  Webster's Dictionary of English Usage (1989), page 200.

Hi, Gilbert and The Parser,

I think Michael Swan has covered this point in 'Practical English Usage, 3rd edition, page 92:

2 speaker's/hearer's past or future position

We can also use bring for a movement to a place where the speaker or hearer already was or will be. Compare:

- Where's that report? ~ I brought it to you when you were in Mr Allen's office. Don't you remember?
- I took the papers to John's office.
- I'll arrive at the hotel at six o'clock. Can you bring the car at six-thirty?
- Can you take the car to the garage tomorrow? I won't have time. (NOT Can you bring the car to the garage tomorrow? . . .)

I like Rachel's reply here:

https://thegrammarexchange.inf...topic/bring-and-take

@gilbert posted:

I will be taking fried chicken to the potluck lunch on Sunday. It would be great if you could bring along some fruits .

The first sentence uses the word taking while the second uses bring, which I believe is the opposite of take. Is this grammatical?

Or should it be 'bringing...bring' or 'taking...take' instead?

Greetings, everybody—It's great to see you again, Gilbert. Of course, I always enjoy seeing TheParser and Ahmed_btm, too.

Just to confirm what has already essentially been said, one can tease out an implicit difference in perspective in the two sentences of the pair.

Whereas "take" tends to be used when there is motion away from the speaker's location, "bring" tends to be used when the motion is to the speaker's location.

In the first sentence, the speaker is not at the potluck at the time of speech. He envisions departing and transporting (taking) things to the potluck.

In the second sentence, the speaker imagines being at the potluck, and envisions  having the listener transport (bring) things to where he will be.

Many thanks to David, Ahmed, and Gilbert for helping me to better understand how to use these two verbs. Wish you all a nice weekend!

Hello, TheParser, Ahmed and our awesome moderator, David.

Thank you for those spot on answers and observations. And Ahmed, thanks for the link to Rachel's reply. God rest her soul.

@TheParser posted:

IThe reasoning behind the use of "bring" is that the speaker is already thinking of being at the zoo.

Sources: Fowler's Modern English Usage (third edition), page 117;  Webster's Dictionary of English Usage (1989), page 200.

@David, Moderator posted:

In the first sentence, the speaker is not at the potluck at the time of speech. He envisions departing and transporting (taking) things to the potluck.

In the second sentence, the speaker imagines being at the potluck, and envisions  having the listener transport (bring) things to where he will be.

Hahahaha! I've lived many years and have this ingrained concept that 'you take something there' and someone 'brings something here'. Period!

So, (can I start a sentence with 'So'?) your replies are really an eye-opener for me. This has never crossed my mind (See how difficult it is to be a second language speaker!) Thanks, guys!

This has got me thinking about 'go along' and 'come along'. Maybe you guys can help me with this too.

If I'm planning to go to the zoo, and I want to invite a friend along, would I say:

'Would you like to go along with me?' OR 'Would you like to come along with me?' [I know that I could use accompany me and avoid this unnecessary hassle, but I'm too curious to not ask this question.]

Thanks.

@gilbert posted:

This has got me thinking about 'go along' and 'come along'. Maybe you guys can help me with this too.

If I'm planning to go to the zoo, and I want to invite a friend along, would I say:

'Would you like to go along with me?' OR 'Would you like to come along with me?' [I know that I could use accompany me and avoid this unnecessary hassle, but I'm too curious to not ask this question.]

Hello, Gilbert,

I think both are perfectly possible, but "come" expresses more strongly the presence of "me" (you will not be going alone, I will be coming with you).

Gilbert, I just thought that you might like to know this expression: "To get along, you have to go along."

"To get along" = To be on good terms with other people.

"To go along" =  To do something that everyone else is doing.

Let's say all the students in your math class want to buy a gift for the teacher. They are asking everyone to donate one dollar. You do not like the teacher, so you do not want to contribute. But you do not want the other  students to be angry with you, so you smile and donate one dollar.