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When to Use Bring?
‘Bring’ comes from the Old English word ‘bran.’ This word has its origins in the Old Germanic language branan. Branan means ‘to fructify.’ During the Middle English period, bran became bran to avoid confusion with the bird named raven. In addition, the suffix -er was added to make the word ‘brun-er.’ This alteration stuck and is used today as a way of describing someone or something brown. Essentially, it is an alteration of a common Old English word.
The other origin of ‘bring’ is a cognate of Old English branan. The modern spelling of bring is also in keeping with this common root. Another interesting thing to note about bring is that it comes from the Old Norse verb brugja or ‘to carry.’ In old Norse, borð or ‘carry’ also came from the same source as bring. These are interesting facts since many thinks ‘bring’ comes from the Old Norse word borð. However, this is not true; instead, borð is a borrowing of bring into old Norse.
There are many different meanings for bring in contemporary usage. The most common meaning of bring today is to take something somewhere else. For example: A truck driver brings things from one place to another every day. Another way that bring is used today is as a synonym for bear or carry. For example: ‘We need to bring these chairs inside.’ In addition, bringing can refer to conveying knowledge or information from one place to another- for example, bringing science to life through technology or bringing history to life through oral tradition.
When to Use Take?
Whereas ‘take’ comes from the Old English verb takin, which means ‘to grasp.’ The original derivation of take was from the Old French tailler, which came from the Latin verb capere meaning ‘to capture.’ Today, take refers to both a noun and an adjective. The noun take refers to a taking of property by authorities for payment or restitution under legal procedure.
For example: A seizure occurs when authorities take property illegally under legal procedure using a court order. In addition, an emergency taking occurs when authorities take property without following proper procedure without court order. On the other hand, an act of taking can also refer to stealing something without paying for it- for example: You take something when you did not pay for it.
Difference Between Bring and Take
There are many differences between bring and take that make using them incorrectly damaging in different ways. First off, bring implies directionality whereas take does not necessarily imply directionality. That means that if you do not know where something came from, you cannot bring something back home unless you know where that item originated from.
Firstly, if you do know where something came from, you can take items anywhere you want without having to worry about where they came from originally. Secondly, when delivering something new, someone brings joy into people’s lives whereas someone takes things that already have joy associated with them. When delivering joy into people’s lives – whether intentionally or not – someone brings into existence; whereas someone takes things that already have joy associated with them and attaches his own joy upon them in his mind first before delivering them into someone else’s mind with his own joy attached thereto (i.e., his will).
Comparison Table Between Bring and Take
| Parameter of Comparison | Bring | Take |
| Meaning | To bring means to carry or receive something to give or present to the person who asks for it. | Take is a way or the ability to receive or carry something or occupy something wherever you go. |
| Purpose of usage | Target | resource |
| Motion | Direction towards the speaker | Out of the side of speaker |
| Examples | Can you bring a burger for me | I would like to take you to my house |