One problem that my Italian students frequently have in using English, is understanding the subtle difference between the English verbs Bring and Take. Both correspond to the verb “Portare” in Italiano but they are not interchangeable. Both are irregular verbs: Brought is both the simple past tense and the past participle for Bring, while Took is the simple past tense for Take and Taken is the past participle.

Both are verbs concerning movement, but in different directions. You bring something here, you take something there. The locations of here and there are from the point-of-view of the speaker or the writer. Bring is used in relation to a destination. Take is in relation to a starting point. Or another way to use them, bring can mean to carry something along with you whereas take means to carry something away.

For example, your sister asks you to bring her a glass of water, so you take the glass to her.

Other examples:

“Bring me the newspaper” – carrying something towards the speaker’s destination

“It might rain, take an umbrella with you to the office” – carrying something away from the speaker’s starting point

“I’ll bring a cheesy dip to the party. What will you take?” – 1^st part: carrying something with the speaker to a destination, the party 2^nd part: carrying something away from the other person’s starting point.

To make things more complicated, you can write the exact same sentence and swap just the words bring and take if you want to express a different person’s point-of-view. E.g.

“She always takes him coffee on her way to work.” This is written from her viewpoint – the doer.

“She always brings him coffee on her way to work.” This is written from his viewpoint – the receiver.

A little tip to help you remember is to think of “take-away food”: if the direction of travel is away from the speaker, use the verb, Take.