I never write in books, but people who jot corrections or comments in their own books are certainly within their rights. With poorly edited novels, it’s not uncommon to see numerous cross outs and insertions. Is it acceptable for people to make corrections in library books? I’ve been seeing this for years, and I’ve always found it jarring. So I’ll save it, and some of her grammar pet peeves, to lead off my next Grammar Police column.
I consulted with one of the most authoritative people I know, former longtime “Scholastic Scrimmage” host Karen Walton, and got her take on this - she doesn’t buy the bring/take waffling - but I realized I didn’t have space to do her response justice. That said, it’s clear that some Grammar Police feel strongly on the subject. Usage is based on which point of view the speaker wants to emphasize, the moving of the object or the removing of it.” suggests, “When one is using the future tense, either of these verbs are correct because nothing has actually happened yet. That sentence sounds just like the one in the book. Their essay continued, “While bring often implies movement toward the speaker, and take often implies movement away from the speaker, either word is used when it’s unclear or unimportant what the direction of the motion is: ‘Bring the Merriam-Webster dictionary with you to the pub’ and ‘Take the Merriam-Webster dictionary with you to the pub’ are both perfectly acceptable.” As I looked into the subject this time, though, I found myself confused by some online sources.Ĭlearly, I would say, “Bring me that dog, please,” not “take me that dog.” Likewise, I would say, “Take that away,” not “bring that away.” “Bring” suggests motion toward the speaker or writer “take” suggests motion away from the speaker or writer.īut argues that when the speaker/writer is conveying something from here to there, it’s not so cut and dried, offering the example “I’m going to take this dictionary to my favorite pub - they should have one at the bar.” I concluded in that instance that the reader was correct. The reader argued that the SPCA took, not brought, the dogs to Baltimore, because bringing requires that the writer/speaker be at the destination to which the item is conveyed. A reader had complained about a grammar error in an email I quoted in my column: “He was one of 18 dogs the Maryland SPCA brought to Baltimore from the PA fairground staging area after the raid.” take in a Grammar Police column years ago.
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