Learn English – “bring over” or “bring”

phrasal-verbs

bring over (PHRASAL VERB [TRANSITIVE]) : to take someone or something from one place to the place where someone else is, especially their home. Macmillan Dictionary

  • I’ll bring my holiday photos over when I come.

What "over" does add (as meaning) to the above sentence?

Is there any difference in meaning between the below?

  • Can Jake bring over his baseball cards?
  • Can Jake bring his baseball cards?

Best Answer

Intuitively, I feel like the addition of "over" implies that the destination is a house. I can think of a few phrases that fit this description:

Several friends came over [to my house] for dinner.

Jake brought his baseball cards over [to his friend's house].

Sandy's friends brought sleeping bags and slept over [at Sandy's house].

I can't think of an example where you would use one of these without implying that the destination is a house. For example, you wouldn't really say "I'm at work, do you want to come over and pick me up?" Or, "I brought all my books over to school."

I know this isn't a very scientific answer and some will disagree, but as a native speaker I feel like that's the shade of meaning that "over" gives in this case.

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