Emmener, amener, emporter, apporter ?
Emmener, amener, emporter, apporter are four French verbs which trigger nightmares for some of my students…but also for some French people! In this article, I hope to clarify things enough for you to feel confident about using them properly 🙂
So, keep reading then test yourself with my free practice exercises!
“Porter” vs “-mener”
“Porter” means “to carry” (and, when referring to clothes, “to wear”).
Example: un porte-clé (= a keyring, literally “a key-carrier/holder”)
It’s used with things, because things can’t walk or move themselves and need to be carried.
“-mener” expresses the idea of a movement that someone or an animal does to move themselves (left leg, right leg, left left, right leg, etc.) – They don’t need to be carried.
For example, “se promener” means “to go for a walk”.
Remembering this will help you make the fundamental difference between emmener, amener, emporter and apporter!
Emmener, amener, emporter, apporter
So, the main point is to not mix “-porter” (used with things which you need to carry) and “-mener” (used for people/animals/things that can move themselves).
Now, the difference between “a-“ and “em-“ can be more subtle – sometimes both forms are acceptable depending on the point of view, but as a general rule the former has a meaning of “bringing along” and the latter of “taking away”:
-PORTER (use with things) | -MENER (use with people, animals + with a car : cant be lifted but can move itself!) |
|
A- Bringing along to the place youre coming to. Tip: think about the preposition "à", which expresses the sense of direction youre going TO. | APPORTER Examples: Si vous venez à ma fête samedi, apportez un dessert! (=If you come to my party, bring a dessert!) | AMENER Examples: Viens diner et amène ta petite amie avec toi, jaimerais la rencontrer! (= Come to dinner and bring your girlfriend with you, Id like to meet her!) |
EM- Taking away the thing or person with you from the place where you are to another place | EMPORTER Examples: J'emporte toujours un livre avec moi. ( = I always take a book with me) Sur place ou à emporter? (= Have here or take away?) | EMMENER Examples: Tu t'ennuies? Allez viens, je t'emmène au cinéma ! (= Are you bored? Come on, I'll take you to the movies!) |
Note about French conjugation
Verbs in « -mener” (mener, amener, emmener, etc.) take an « è” in order to get a strong sound when they are not already followed by another strong/accentuated syllable. The “nous” and “vous” forms in the present tense for example have a strong ending (“-ons”, “-ez”), so no alteration in the spelling/pronunciation is needed.
Example: emmener →j’emmène, tu emmènes, il emmène, nous emmenons, vous emmenez, ils emmènent.
What about remmener, ramener, remporter, rapporter ?
You can add “r-“ in front of the verbs to give the following meanings:
- A repetition (to re-take, to re-bring along, etc)
Examples:
La semaine dernière, j’ai amené ma voiture au garage parce qu’elle faisait un bruit bizarre et je dois la ramener aujourd’hui pour un autre problème !)
(= Last week I took my car to the mechanic because it was making a weird noise and I have to take it there again today for another problem!)
Je vois que tu as aimé mes macarons! Je t’en rapporterai demain.
(= I see you liked my macarons! I’ll bring some more/again tomorrow.) - The return to the original place / return to the point of departure
Examples:
Rapporte-moi mon stylo quand tu auras fini, s’il te plait.
(= Bring my pen back to me when you’re done, please.)
Elle était partie seule faire le tour du monde et…elle a ramené un petit ami!
(= she went to travel around the world by herself and she brought back a boyfriend !)
French culture : a song for you !
Listen to « J’t’emmène au vent » (Louise Attaque) and get carried by the rhythm 🙂
…and don’t forget to test yourself!
Get Worksheet