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Will You Bring it or Take it?

A common confusion occurs between the meaning of bring and take. We now hear people say, “I need to bring this broken blender back to the store for repairs.”

According to the Oxford English Dictionary, “If the person or thing is going away from where you are, use take. If the object or person is coming to where you are, use bring.

Thus, you would say, correctly, the following: “Fred asked if I could bring my wife to the party tomorrow. I decided I would take her as she hasn’t met Fred’s new girlfriend.”

(February 27, 2011)

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