Today, I want to talk about when to use the Spanish verbs llevar vs. traer.

A few days ago, I read an interesting online post from a native English speaker. Her online post illustrates an important point that may help explain why English speakers make a common mistake when speaking Spanish. She posted the following question on a forum for language-learners and asked that native English speakers respond:

As an English speaker would you say “I will bring a bottle of wine to your house” or would you say “I will take a bottle of wine to your house”?

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Although most native English speakers who are not American responded and said “I will take a bottle of wine to your house” several Americans responded and said “I will bring a bottle of wine to your house.”

As English speakers we have a tendency to use the verb “take” when we should use the verb “bring” and vice versa.

LET ME CORRECT THAT STATEMENT IMMEDIATELY. . . . As AMERICANS, we have a tendency to use the verb “take” when we should use the verb “bring” and vice versa. I want to clarify that as Americans we tend to have this problem because I have never heard anyone from the U.K., Australia or New Zealand being confused about when to use “take” vs. “bring.” It is clearly an American thing.

So to clear this up, you use “bring” or “take” depending on your location. That is, you take things to the place where you are going and you ask people to bring things to the place where you are. In other words, you bring things here and you take things there.

Since many Americans seem to confuse the verbs “take” and “bring,” this explains why I have heard so many Americans get confused when speaking Spanish and use the Spanish verb “llevar” (to take) when they should use the Spanish verb “traer” (to bring) and vice versa.

When To Use The Spanish Verbs Llevar vs. Traer

The Spanish verb “llevar” is used when talking about transporting something or someone from one destination to another destination other than where you are.

Now imagine that you are speaking on the telephone with a friend, you are NOT at home, you are somewhere else, and you want a bottle of wine to be at your home when you arrive. Then you can say “llévame una botella de vino a mi casa.”

“Llévame una botella de vino a mi casa” does not mean “bring” a bottle of wine to my house. “Llévame una botella de vino a mi casa” actually means, “take” a bottle of wine to my house.

Assuming that you are somewhere other than your home, you can also instruct someone to take a bottle of wine to your home by saying:

Me lleva una botella de vino a mi casa. (FORMAL)

On the other hand, if you are already at home and you want someone to “bring” a bottle of wine to you at your home, then you should use the Spanish verb “traer.”

Tráeme una botella de vino a mi casa. (informal)
Me traes una botella de vino a mi casa. (informal)
Tráigame una botella de vino a mi casa. (formal)
Bring a bottle of wine to my house.

By the way, I want to point out that although as Americans we sometimes incorrectly use the verbs “take” and “bring,” I have never heard a Spanish speaker incorrectly use the Spanish verbs “llevar” vs.

“traer.”