Apporter or amener? What to bring and who to bring
Bring a cake with apporter and a friend with amener. Compare destinations, practise a dinner invitation and check the present-tense accent change.
In short
Use apporter for bringing an object to someone or somewhere: J’apporte le dessert. Use amener for getting a person or animal to a place: J’amène ma sœur. Both focus on arrival at the destination.
Yellow the idea to rememberBlue French to learn
What are you bringing? Who are you bringing?
apporterto bring something
Focus: the object delivered
apporter quelque chose à quelqu’un / chez quelqu’un
J’apporte une salade chez Nora.
I’m bringing a salad to Nora’s.
Tu peux apporter ton ordinateur à la réunion ?
Can you bring your laptop to the meeting?
amenerto bring someone
Focus: the person or animal brought to a place
amener quelqu’un à un endroit / chez quelqu’un
J’amène ma sœur chez Nora.
I’m bringing my sister to Nora’s.
Elle amène son chien au parc.
She’s taking her dog to the park.
The destination can be tomorrow’s meeting place. You can say J’apporte le dessert demain while you are at home today. Amener also works when you drop someone off: J’amène ma fille au cours de danse, puis je pars.
Four things to bring
Find:
What is the difference between apporter and amener?
- Nora
Tu viens dîner demain ?
Are you coming for dinner tomorrow?
- Alex
Oui ! J’apporte une salade et un gâteau.
Yes! I’m bringing a salad and a cake.
- Nora
Super. Tu amènes ta sœur ?
Great. Are you bringing your sister?
- Alex
Oui, je l’amène. Nous arrivons vers huit heures.
Yes, I’m bringing her. We’ll arrive around eight.
| Subject | apporter | amener |
|---|---|---|
| je | j’apporte | j’amène |
| nous | nous apportons | nous amenons |
| vous | vous apportez | vous amenez |
| ils / elles | ils / elles apportent | ils / elles amènent |
You will also hear amener with things in conversation, especially vehicles. For your own everyday requests, apporter un document and amener un ami give you clear starting phrases. For taking things or people away with you, compare emporter and emmener in the related page.