I have been asking everyone I know and searching the web for the answer to this one question for weeks. I finally stumbled across this website and am so excited and can't wait to finally know the answer. It's a huge debate in my household right now. Do I bring him to work or take him to work?? The sentence I use that my boyfriend insists is incorrect is, "I have to bring Shaun to work at 3 o'clock." He insists its take and I pray he is wrong ha ha. Will someone be so kind as to end this dispute?
Thanks,
Christine
********** NOT A TEACHER **********
Hello.
(1) May I give you my two cents?
(2)
Of course, I may be completely wrong, so do
not bet the
house on my answer!!! Wait until you get better replies.
(3) After reviewing my books, I
might have an answer:
(a) My books tell me that
bring and
takeare often interchangeable.
(b) I think that
I am bringing him to work and
I am taking him to
work are both "good" English.
(c) If ( a big IF!!!) I understand my books correctly, your decision to
use
bring was the better choice.
(d) One expert (Mr. Bryan A. Garner) reminds us that:
bring is related to
come in the same way that
take is related to
go.
That is a VERY important thing to remember.
(e) Another expert (Ms. Patricia T. O'Conner) reminds us that:
The choice of
bring or take depends on your point of view. That
is, are you thinking of the starting point (home) or your destination
(workplace). A
super important consideration.
(f) Many people love their jobs. I am sure that you are one of them.
Therefore, maybe you are thinking ahead. Although you are physically
at home, your mind is at work. Therefore, when you speak, you are
speaking AS IF you WERE at work. So you say, "I am
bringing him to
work." In other words: He is
coming from home to your workplace where
you already are MENTALLY).
(g) Now, let's say that you hate your job. Then your mind would probably
be focused on your home. You might think: I do not want to go to work.
But I have to if I want to earn some money. I cannot leave my son here
by himself, so I will
take him to work with me. That is: He is
going to my
workplace from home.
(h) Therefore, your friend probably should not have criticized your
English, because he probably did not know how you were thinking.
He did not know whether you were thinking of your destination (use
bring) or thinking of the starting point (use
take).
Thank you
P.S. Another example. You are at home. Your boss calls you. S/he asks
you to come to the office immediately. You say, "OK. Is it OK if I
bring my son?" You use
bring because you are mentally in the boss's
office (although you are at home). If you
were physically in his/her
office, you certainly would say, "I will bring my son here. He will come
here with me. OK?" The telephone puts you -- so to speak -- in the boss's
office (the destination -- not the starting point).