In Korean there is no one word for "bring" or "take". This actually means Korean people find this difficult in English and non-Koreans also find it a little confusing in Korean. In Korea a combination of 가다/오다ga-da/o-da (go/come) with 가지다ga-ji-da (have, possess, own) is used. No points for guessing which combination means "bring" or "take"!
- 책(을) 집에 가지고 갔어요check-(eul) jip-e ga-ji-go gass-eo-yo / I took the book home (this means the speaker is NOT at home)
- 책(을) 집에 가지고 왔어요check-(eul) jip-e ga-ji-go wass-eo-yo / I brought the book home (this means the speaker IS at home)
In both examples 가지다ga-ji-da drops the -다-da and attaches -고-go. -고-go really means "and" so the ultra-literal meaning of this phrase, rather than being bring or take, is I possessed the book and came/went.
In English we can say "I brought the book home" when we are not at home, but because Korean contains the words come and go we have to be precise. If we are in the same place we brought the thing, it's got to be 가지고 오다ga-ji-go o-da and if we are not in the same place we have to use 가지고 가다ga-ji-go o-da.
- (here you are NOT in the library)책(을) 도서관에 가지고 갔어요check-(eul) do-seo-gwan-e ga-ji-go gass-eo-yo / I took the book to the library
- (here you are IN the library)책(을) 도서관에 가지고 왔어요check-(eul) do-seo-gwan-e ga-ji-go wass-eo-yo / I brought the book library
