Bring vs. Take in Portuguese: Trazer or Levar?
Trazer usually moves something toward the speaker or destination; levar moves it away to another place.
Real Life Portuguese · 5 min read · Updated October 15, 2026
The short answer
Trazer usually describes carrying something toward the speaker or the place being discussed. It is irregular: eu trago, você traz, and nós trazemos.
Use trazer to bring something here
Você pode trazer seu documento amanhã?
Can you bring your document tomorrow?
Trouxe um bolo para a festa.
I brought a cake to the party.
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.
Vou levar as crianças à escola.
I’m going to take the children to school.
Levei o livro para a biblioteca.
I took the book to the library.
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).
Traz um casaco se vier aqui à noite.
Bring a jacket if you come here tonight.
Leva um casaco porque vai fazer frio lá.
Take a jacket because it will be cold there.
Put it into practice
Use trazer for movement toward the current or intended destination and levar for taking something elsewhere.
Quick practice
Which Portuguese example matches “I brought a cake to the party”?
Choose an answer to check yourself.
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