bringen

Bringen is a common German verb meaning to carry or convey something to a person or place, or to cause a result. It is transitive and typically requires a direct object (the thing being brought) and often an indirect object for the recipient. Beyond physical transfer, bringen can express providing or causing outcomes, and it appears in many idioms, such as zur Sprache bringen (to raise a topic) or etwas mitbringen (to bring along).

Conjugation and forms

In the present tense the forms are: ich bringe, du bringst, er/sie/es bringt, wir bringen, ihr bringt, sie bringen. The Präteritum (simple past) forms are: ich brachte, du brachtest, er brachte, wir brachten, ihr brachtet, sie brachten. The perfect is formed with haben: ich habe gebracht, du hast gebracht, er hat gebracht, etc., with das Partizip II: gebracht. The subjunctive I (for reported speech) is er bringe; the subjunctive II is brächte. The imperative forms are Bring! (informal singular), Bringt! (informal plural), and Bringen Sie! (formal).

Separable-prefix variant mitbringen

Many speakers use the separable-prefix verb mitbringen, meaning to bring along. In present tense it is conjugated like bringen but the prefix mit is separated in clauses: ich bringe mit, du bringst mit, er bringt mit, wir bringen mit, ihr bringt mit, sie bringen mit. The Präteritum is brachte mit and the past participle is mitgebracht. Other prefix verbs with bringen function similarly, but mitbringen is the most common in everyday usage.

Usage notes

Bringen often implies moving something toward the speaker or a recipient, whereas holen means to fetch something from somewhere away. The phrase etwas bringen can also be figurative, as in embodying a consequence or result. In fixed phrases, bringungen often adopt special meanings, such as etwas zur Sprache bringen (to bring up a matter) or jemandem etwas bringen (to bring someone something).

Origins

Bringen derives from Old High German brengan, related to the English bring. It belongs to the core set of German verbs with strong past-tense alternations and a versatile range of uses.