Amener vs apporter vs emmener vs emporter
The short answer
Two questions decide it. Is it a person or a thing? People take amener and emmener, things take apporter and emporter. Are you coming or going? Arriving takes a- (amener, apporter), leaving takes em- (emmener, emporter). Cross the two and you have your verb.
At a glance
Amener / apporter or Emmener / emporter?
| Compare | Amener / apporterBringing, towards where you are going. | Emmener / emporterTaking away, from where you are. |
|---|---|---|
| A person, arriving with you | amener: j’amène ma sœur | Not used |
| A person, leaving with you | Not used | emmener: je t’emmène au cinéma |
| A thing, arriving with you | apporter: j’apporte le dessert | Not used |
| A thing, leaving with you | Not used | emporter: plats à emporter |
| The root verb | mener (lead), porter (carry) | mener (lead), porter (carry) |
| The prefix | a- : movement towards a destination | em- : movement away from here |
How to choose
Ask these, in order
- 1
Is it a person or an animal?
Mener-based: amener or emmener. Mener means to lead, and you lead people.
Je peux amener quelqu’un ?
Can I bring someone?
- 2
Is it an object?
Porter-based: apporter or emporter. Porter means to carry, and you carry things.
N’oublie pas d’apporter ton passeport.
Don’t forget to bring your passport.
- 3
Is the movement towards the destination you are talking about?
The a- prefix. Amener and apporter both point at arriving.
J’apporte une bouteille ce soir.
I’ll bring a bottle tonight.
NBYou are arriving at the party with it.
- 4
Is the movement away from where you are now?
The em- prefix. Emmener and emporter both point at leaving.
Une pizza à emporter, s’il vous plaît.
A pizza to take away, please.
NBThe most common sighting of emporter in daily life, and a good anchor for the prefix.
Side by side
Each one, in full
People: amener and emmener
Bringing, towards where you are going.
Both come from mener, to lead, and both take a person or an animal as their object. Amener is arriving with them, emmener is leaving with them: j’amène les enfants à l’école, then je les emmène au parc après.
In casual speech these two are frequently used for objects as well, and you will hear j’ai amené une bouteille from native speakers. It is widespread and still non-standard, so it is worth recognising without copying.
Il a amené sa nouvelle copine au dîner.
He brought his new girlfriend to dinner.
Je t’emmène à la gare si tu veux.
I’ll take you to the station if you like.
Elle emmène le chien chez le vétérinaire.
She’s taking the dog to the vet.
NBAn animal counts as a person for this rule.
Things: apporter and emporter
Taking away, from where you are.
Both come from porter, to carry, and both take an object. Apporter is bringing something here or to where you are going; emporter is taking something away with you when you leave.
Emporter carries a slight sense of removing something from its place, which is why à emporter is the phrase on every takeaway sign in France and why it also appears in vent qui emporte tout: a wind that carries everything off.
Apporte ton ordinateur, on en aura besoin.
Bring your laptop, we’ll need it.
J’ai oublié d’emporter mon chargeur.
I forgot to take my charger with me.
Sur place ou à emporter ?
Eat in or take away?
NBYou will hear this in every bakery and sandwich shop in the country.
Mistakes to avoid
What learners actually get wrong
J’ai amené une bouteille de vin.
J’ai apporté une bouteille de vin.
A bottle is a thing, so it takes porter, not mener. This error is extremely common among native speakers, which makes it easy to absorb by ear, but it is still marked as wrong in writing and in exams.
Je vais apporter mon frère à la fête.
Je vais amener mon frère à la fête.
Apporter with a person implies carrying them, which is either comic or alarming. People take mener-based verbs precisely because you lead them rather than carry them.
Un café à apporter, s’il vous plaît.
Un café à emporter, s’il vous plaît.
You are leaving with the coffee, so the movement is away and the prefix is em-. À apporter would mean something to be brought to you, which is not what a takeaway counter offers.
Tu peux m’emmener ton livre ?
Tu peux m’apporter ton livre ?
Both halves are wrong: a book is a thing, and the movement is towards the speaker. This is the error that shows the two questions really do need answering separately.
Questions
Asked and answered
- Do French speakers really keep these apart?
- Carefully in writing, loosely in speech. Amener for objects is very widespread in conversation and passes without comment. In anything written, or in an exam, the four-way distinction is expected, so it is worth learning properly even though you will hear it broken daily.
- What about ramener and rapporter?
- The re- prefix adds back: ramener quelqu’un is to take a person back, rapporter quelque chose is to bring a thing back or to return it. The same person-versus-thing split applies, so once you have the four base verbs these come free.
- Is there an easy way to remember the prefixes?
- Anchor them to phrases you already know. À emporter is on every takeaway sign, so em- is away from here. And amener shares its a- with arriver, which is movement towards. Two anchors cover all four verbs.