Meaning & use
bring
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Meanings
verbtransitive
To carry or lead something or someone to the place where the speaker is, or to a place being discussed.
Grammar: Takes an object and often to: bring a book to class; bring me a glass.
Patterns
- bring something to somewhere
- bring someone something
- bring someone along
Please bring your passport to the airport.
She brought me a cup of tea.
Can I bring a friend to the party?
verbtransitive
To cause a result, feeling or situation to come about.
Grammar: Takes an abstract object: bring happiness; bring about change.
Patterns
- bring something to someone
- bring something about
The new factory brought jobs to the town.
Her words brought tears to my eyes.
The storm brought heavy rain across the coast.
verbtransitive
To move a matter into a particular state or position, or to make someone do or face something.
Grammar: Often followed by to, into or before: bring to an end; bring someone to justice.
Patterns
- bring something to an end
- bring someone to justice
- bring something into use
The treaty brought the war to an end.
Police brought the suspect before a judge.
The tool brings new ideas into the design.
verbtransitivelegal
To start a legal case or accusation against someone.
Grammar: Used with charges or an action: bring charges against someone.
Patterns
- bring charges against someone
- bring a case against someone
The city brought charges against the company.
She brought a lawsuit against her former landlord.
No case was brought because evidence was missing.
Word forms
| third person singular | brings |
|---|---|
| past tense | brought |
| past participle | brought |
| -ing form | bringing |
Common combinations
- bring about change
- Public pressure brought about change.
- bring up a subject
- She brought up the subject at dinner.
- bring charges
- Prosecutors may bring charges next week.
- bring together
- The festival brings the community together.
- bring to an end
- The strike was brought to an end on Friday.
- bring someone up
- Her grandparents brought her up.
Synonyms and how they differ
- carry
- Carry focuses on holding and moving something, with no sense of direction toward the speaker.
- fetch
- Fetch means go and get something and come back, which bring does not include.
- take
- Take moves something away from the speaker, while bring moves it toward the speaker or listener.
- cause
- Cause is more direct and formal when bring means produce a result.
Opposites
Word family
- bring up phrasal verb
- to raise a child or mention a subject
- bring about phrasal verb
- to cause something to happen
- bring back phrasal verb
- to return or recall
- upbringing noun
- the way a child is raised
Commonly confused: bring or take? bring or brang?
bring vs take
Bring goes toward the speaker or the place being discussed, and take goes away: bring it here, take it there.
bring vs brang
Brang is nonstandard; the past tense of bring is brought.
Practice
Yesterday my neighbor ___ me a basket of apples.
Choose one answer.
Brought is the irregular past tense of bring. Brang and bringed are common errors, and taken is not a past tense.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “bring”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.