[General] diffrence between 'to fetch' and 'to bring'

[Unregistered]

Kindly clear my doubt on this.
i) she has gone to fetch water
ii) she has gone to bring water

and kindly eloborate the difference between these two words and where to use at proper way?

 

[kfredson]

Kindly clear my doubt on this.
i) she has gone to fetch water
ii) she has gone to bring water

and kindly eloborate the difference between these two words and where to use at proper way?

i) means simply that she is going to get water, with the implication that she is going to return with it. "Fetch" is something of an archaic or old-fashioned word, at least in the U.S. It is a fine word to use, however.

ii) means that she has the water and is going to take this water to someone in another place. Usually "bring" would be followed by "to," as in the sentence, "She is going to bring water to the poor priest who lives around the corner."

 

[Barb_D]

The other difference to me is that if you already have something, you don't fetch it.

What do you have there? Can you bring it to me?
There's a letter on the table. Can you fetch it for me?

(I tend to find "fetch" someone country-sounding.) EDIT: Yes, this should be "somewhat"!

 

[mmasny]

(I tend to find "fetch" someone country-sounding.)

I have a question about the above sentence. Do you use 'someone' like 'somewhat' here? I've never seen this word in such a context. Could you explain it?

 

[IHIVG]

I can bet my bottom dollar it was a typo. Most likely Barb_D meant 'somewhat', but not 'someone' definitely.

 

[bhaisahab]

i) means simply that she is going to get water, with the implication that she is going to return with it. "Fetch" is something of an archaic or old-fashioned word, at least in the U.S. It is a fine word to use, however.

ii) means that she has the water and is going to take this water to someone in another place. Usually "bring" would be followed by "to," as in the sentence, "She is going to bring water to the poor priest who lives around the corner."

In your example ii) I would use "take" rather than bring: "She is going to take water to the poor priest who lives around the corner" but, "She is going to bring water (from the well)".

 

[Barb_D]

I can bet my bottom dollar it was a typo. Most likely Barb_D meant 'somewhat', but not 'someone' definitely.

And you would win that bet! Sorry for the confusion I created by typing too quickly!

 

[kfredson]

In your example ii) I would use "take" rather than bring: "She is going to take water to the poor priest who lives around the corner" but, "She is going to bring water (from the well)".

Oh, yes, the old take vs. bring dilemma. I tend to use them interchangeably, as do many people, I believe. Perhaps you can remind me of the rule. I think I have been correcting papers so long that some things no longer strike me as wrong.