What’s the difference between LEVAR and TRAZER in Portuguese?

I think “What’s the difference between levar and trazer?” is among the top 10 questions asked by students of Portuguese!

And not only by native English speakers. Sometimes the student’s native language has only one verb for both in Portuguese, or the difference is not so important as it is in Portuguese. Verb conjugation of trazer doesn’t help, it’s all irregular and strange. There are many reasons for confusion.

So I hope I can help with explanations, examples, and activities! If you still have any questions, let me know in the comments!

Levar

Think about levar as something or someone moving away from you or from where you are. In the video above, I give the example of my empty water bottle. I was recording the video in the bedroom and I needed to go to the kitchen to get some water. So I say:

– Vou levar a garrafa de água até a cozinha para pegar água. Moving away from where I was, going to another place.

Remember every time you talk about another place, far from you or far from where you are, you’ll use levar.

Also, for levar, remember Levar Lá. I’ll give some examples, but for that I’ll also include the situation as reference:

• (estamos em casa pensando nas férias) Vamos levar as bicicletas para pedalarmos nas trilhas. (we are at home thinking about vacation) We’ll take/bring the bikes to ride the trails.
• (rotina da família) A mãe leva as crianças na escola de manhã e o pai as busca na hora do almoço. (family routine) The mom takes/brings the kids to school in the morning and the dad picks them up at lunch time.
• (estou em casa e vou jantar na casa de uns amigos) Vou fazer um bolo de maracujá para levar no jantar amanhã. (I’m at home and I’ll have dinner at some friends’ home) I’ll make a passion fruit cake to take/bring for dinner tomorrow.
• (viajei no último verão) Não levei uma mala grande nas férias de verão e foi ótimo! (I traveled last summer) I didn’t take/bring a big suitcase for summer vacation and it was great!
• (meu irmão está na casa dele) Meu irmão vai levar meu sobrinho ao parquinho e depois vir aqui em casa. (my brother is at his home) My brother will take/bring my nephew to the playground and then he’ll come home.

Trazer

For trazer, you’ll also use your location as a reference, but the opposite way. If it’s coming towards you or where you are, you’ll use trazer (aqui, onde estou).

In the video, after I take some water in the kitchen, I need to bring the water bottle back to the bedroom, where I am. So I say: Vou pegar água na cozinha e depois trazer a garrafa aqui no quarto, onde estou. See some examples below:

• (estou na praia, falando com um amigo em outra cidade) Você vai trazer seu barco para cá?  (I’m at the beach, talking to a friend in another city) Are you bringing your boat here?
• (um amigo em casa e outro no supermercado) Traz miojo, por favor? Não tem nada para comer aqui. (one friend at home, another in the supermarket) Bring noodles, please? There is nothing to eat here.
• (meus amigos estão na casa deles e eu estou chegando atrasada, então eles mandam mensagem) Lu, você pode trazer mais vinho? Esquecemos de comprar. (my friends are at their house and I’m late to get there, so they text me) Lu, can you bring more wine? We forgot to buy.
• (viajei no último verão) Não trouxe nenhuma lembrancinha da viagem, foi ótimo não perder tempo com isso! (I traveled last summer) I didn’t bring any souvenirs from the trip, it was great not to lose time with that!
• (meu irmão está na casa dele e eu mando mensagem) Você vai trazer meu sobrinho aqui hoje? (my brother is at his home and I text him) Are you going to bring my nephew here today?

There is just an additional problem for trazer, and it’s the conjugation. Levar is a regular verb, but trazer is irregular in most of the tenses. Click here to practice the conjugation of trazer.

Levar and trazer – some notes

For these two verbs, levar and trazer you’ll always use where you are as reference. If it’s moving away, or if you need to take something away from where you are, it’s levar. If it’s coming towards you, or you need to something where you are, it’s trazer.

You can relate levar to ir and trazer to vir. See the dialogue below using these verbs together:
(Camila está doente no quarto e Mariana está assistindo TV na sala)

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