Bring back means to return something, carry it back, or bring something home from a trip. Another common meaning is to make you remember the past: This photo brings back memories of my school years. Bring shows direction: the thing arrives where the speaker or the listener is.
Want to use bring back in conversation?
Write a sentence — we'll show the mistakes right away and suggest how to say it more naturally.
The check is taking longer than usual. Your feedback will appear here automatically.
bring + noun + back / bring back + noun; bring it back; bring back + noun + from + place; bring back memories of + noun
- Could you bring my charger back tomorrow? I need it for work.
- She brought back some spices from her trip to India.
- This song always brings back memories of our summer camp.
What changed
First versionThanks for the book. I will return it back on Monday.
RevisionThanks for the book. I will bring it back on Monday.
Return back is a common mistake, but it says the same thing twice: return already means to go or give back. You can say return it or bring it back. We chose bring because the book will be brought to where the listener is.
Take back means to carry something back to where it came from, for example returning a purchase to a shop: I took the shoes back because they were too small. Bring back means to carry something back to the speaker: Bring my keys back when you're done.
Your turn
You borrowed my umbrella last week. Please ___ when you come to my place tonight.
Show the answer
bring it back — The umbrella has to come back to where the speaker is, to their home, so bring it back. Take it back would mean carrying the umbrella somewhere else, for example to a shop.
Think of something you brought back from your last trip. Write where it is from and who you bought it for.
I brought back a jar of local honey from Altai for my grandmother.
Learn to use new words without mistakes
Write phrases with the words you are learning. LetsWords shows mistakes in usage and grammar, suggests corrections and explains them, and review helps the words stick.