Bring vs. Take in Portuguese: Trazer or Levar — Practice

Use trazer to bring something here

Trazer usually describes carrying something toward the speaker or the place being discussed. It is irregular: eu trago, você traz, and nós trazemos.

Use levar to take something there

Levar usually describes taking a person or object away from the speaker’s location to another place. In the past, the common first-person form is levei.

Use the destination to decide

English bring and take can shift with the speaker’s point of view, so focus on the movement in the Portuguese sentence. Ask whether the object is coming to this place (trazer) or going to another place (levar).

Remember: Use trazer for movement toward the current or intended destination and levar for taking something elsewhere.

Check your understanding

Choose the English meaning of each Portuguese example. Answer before looking back at the tables. These questions check the written examples in this guide; they are not a listening or proficiency test.

Recall the Portuguese, then say it

Read the English prompt and say a Portuguese version before opening the answer. The answer shows the example from the lesson; other natural translations may also work. Compare the meaning and the situation rather than counting a different word as automatically wrong.

1. Can you bring your document tomorrow?

   Show a Portuguese answer

   Você pode trazer seu documento amanhã?

2. I brought a cake to the party.

   Show a Portuguese answer

   Trouxe um bolo para a festa.

3. I’m going to take the children to school.

   Show a Portuguese answer

   Vou levar as crianças à escola.

4. I took the book to the library.

   Show a Portuguese answer

   Levei o livro para a biblioteca.

5. Bring a jacket if you come here tonight.

   Show a Portuguese answer

   Traz um casaco se vier aqui à noite.

6. Take a jacket because it will be cold there.

   Show a Portuguese answer

   Leva um casaco porque vai fazer frio lá.

Make the phrase useful to you

Choose one example you could actually use. Say it once from memory, then change one detail that fits your life, such as the person, place, time, or object. Check whether your change also needs a different verb form, article, or adjective ending. If it does, compare it with the pattern in the explanation.

Use trazer for movement toward the current or intended destination and levar for taking something elsewhere.

Return to two prompts tomorrow without opening the answers first. If a phrase still feels difficult, shorten it to a useful chunk and build the complete sentence again.

Sources and your next lesson

This I Speak Portuguese practice guide builds on our Bring vs. Take in Portuguese: Trazer or Levar? lesson on Real Life Portuguese, with written recall tasks and additional speaking practice. The explanations and examples are teaching material; the practice questions are exercises, not a transcript of a recording.

To add Brazilian audio to your routine, choose a lesson in the Real Life Portuguese app. The app offers its own lessons and practice; this page does not imply that every example here has an app recording.