This pair, apporter or amener, is the bane of plenty of French learners, myself included. According to the dictionary, they are the same thing, but they are used very differently. However, there are some patterns you can notice that helps you remember this pair and a few others as well.
Usually, I discuss English explanations on my website, but this pair, apporter or amener, cause me so many problems in
“Apporter” is about bringing an object to the speaker’s current location.
La serveuse nous a apporté la note.
= The waitress brought us the check. The direction of the object was here.
Entendre sa voix m’apportera la tranquillité d’esprit.
= Hearing his/her voice will bring me peace of mind. The direction of that concept will be here, to my heart.
“Amener” is about bringing a person, animal, or vehicle to the speaker’s current location.
J’ai amené un ami à la fête.
= I brough a friend to the party. The direction of that person was here.
Le prof amènera les élèves à penser à leurs avenirs.
= The teacher will bring the students to (prompt the students to) think about their futures. The teacher had their minds changed to a state that is here, where the teacher wants.
“Emporter” is about taking an object away from the speaker’s current location.
Les jeunes doivent emporter avec eux leurs jouets.
= The kids need to take their toys with them. The objects, toys, go to a place away from here.
À sa mort, elle n’en pourra rien emporter.
= At her death, she will not be able to take anything with her. The direction of things is towards a place that is not here, the world of the living.
“Emmener” is about taking a person, animal, or vehicle away from the speaker’s current location.
J’emmènerai mon copain à Paris.
= I will take my boyfriend over to Paris, which is not where I am right now.
Je n’ai pas eu assez d’argent pour emmener mon cher chat chez le vétérinaire.
= I didn’t have enough money to take my dear cat to the vet. The (unsuccessful) direction of the cat was away from here.
When the prefix “re-” gets used, the “e” gets absorbed, and it adds the meaning “back.”
J’ai rapporté les livres à la bibliothèque.
= I took the books back (returned) to the library.
Le chien a rammené le bâton que j’ai lancé dans la brousse.
= The dog brought back the stick I threw into the bushes.
Il me faut une voiture pour remporter les meubles à la maison.
= I need a car to take the furnitures back home.
Les petits ont remmené la police au site du crash.
= The little ones brought the police back to the site of the crash.
In summary:
For these words:
- “r-” adds the meaning of returning or back.
- “a” words are about movement to (à) the speaker’s location
- “e” words are about movement exiting this place.
- “port” words are about moving objects that can be carried, AKA portable.
- “men” words are about moving people (humans), animals, or vehicles
- Don’t forget that “men” verbs are stem-changing verbs that become “mèn” for je, tu, il, ils in the present tense and all persons in the future tense.
Hopefully, that helps any French learner. I think this took a lot of trial and error to learn myself. Thanks to learning other languages, especially ancient Latin, I was able to see the roots of the words that inform the modern French distinction between movement away from or movement to among others. If you can also understand this distinction, you don’t have to think so hard about it every time. Which one do I use? Well, go down the list. Is it back? Is it to here or away from here? What about the thing that the subject is leading?
I am a big proponent of learning roots to words in order to see how words are formed as opposed to rote memorization. Hopefully, thanks to just a couple explanation, you can easily understand the logic behind these eight verbs instead of painstakingly memorizing them and misusing them.
You can see a quick guide to the French language on my YouTube channel if you want to learn more than just apporter or amener. Bonne chance, mes amis!
