Bring Up vs Bring Out (and Bring In, Bring Back): Which One Do You Mean?

“Emily, you said you needed to bring out something about Saturday. A box?”

Paul is joking, but the joke works because the sentence sounds almost right. Emily had meant bring up: she wanted to mention a problem with the room. Bring out is a real phrase too, so Paul’s mind went somewhere else, and his guess is a box.

Emily’s reply is the reason for this guide: “I know every word, but I still choose the wrong phrase.” When two phrases differ by one small word, knowing the words does not help. What helps is a clear picture of the job each one does in a conversation, and a habit of asking which job you need right now.

This guide takes the pairs that look alike one at a time. You do not need to have watched the Paul and Emily episode behind it. Lines in quotation marks are from the episode unless they are marked written for this page. The guide is written for learners at about B1.

Bring up or bring out: the topic is not there yet, or it is there already

This is the pair that Emily says she could mix up most easily. The difference is in what exists before you speak.

With bring up, the thing is not yet in the conversation. You are putting it there. Paul gives the image of a meeting table: bring up places a card on the table, and the card says ROOM SIZE.

With bring out, the thing is already on the table. Something you say or show makes one quality of it easier to notice. In Paul’s picture, bring out shines a light on what matters about the card: the larger room prevents the same crowding problem.

	Bring up	Bring out
Before you speak	the topic is not in the conversation	the quality or fact is already there
What you do	introduce it	make it easier to see
Typical subject	you (Can I bring up one concern?)	an example, a comparison, a question
Example	I wanted to bring up the room size before we confirm the plan.	That example really brings out the difference between having enough space and just hoping the room will work.

You can feel the difference by trying to swap them. “That example brings up the difference” is the repair the episode makes on purpose: if you mean that the difference becomes clearer, bring out is the phrase. And when Emily is asked which of two sentences to use for a concern about price, the answer is Can I bring up one concern? “You’re introducing the concern into the conversation.” The concern is not in the conversation yet, so there is nothing for bring out to point to.

Bring out also needs something to point to. Emily’s weak sentence is “This brings out good”. The episode’s fix is to name what becomes noticeable: This brings out the best part of the plan. After bring out you can put the difference, the contrast, the best part, the problem or a quality.

Notice what bring up does not do. “You are not solving the issue yet.” You are only opening the topic so the other person can respond. That is why Can I bring up one concern? is neutral. “We have a problem, and this plan is bad” is much stronger, and bring up helps you avoid it.

Bring up or bring back: a topic starts, or a memory returns

Paul shows Emily a photo from last year’s film night, with people standing by the door because every chair is taken. Emily says: “Oh, that brings back a problem we had last time.”

In this meaning, bring back is a thing that happens to you: something in the present makes an earlier memory, feeling, idea or problem return to your mind. The subject is usually the thing that triggers it, like the photo, a comment or a smell. Paul’s examples: That photo brings back memories and That comment brings back the same concern.

Bring up is something you do. Compare:

• The photo brings back the problem. The photo makes me remember it.
• I’ll bring up the problem. I will raise it in the discussion.

The episode tests this with a deliberately wrong sentence: “This photo brings up last year’s problem.” Paul is generous. It can be understandable in some contexts, because the photo might introduce that topic. But if you mean that the photo makes you remember the earlier problem, bring back is more precise. That is a good rule for the whole guide: more than one sentence can be possible, but one fits the job better.

Another small test: That smell brings in my childhood is the repair sentence in the episode, and it should be That smell brings back memories of my childhood.

Bring up or bring in: a person is the topic, or a person joins

Emily’s wrong sentence here, made on purpose, is “We need to bring up Leo because he has the table.” Paul explains why it sounds odd: it sounds as if you are introducing Leo as a topic, not involving him in the plan. The better sentence is We need to bring Leo in on this.

So the question is: do you want to talk about someone, or have them join?

You want to…	Say	From the episode
talk about a person as a subject	I want to bring up Leo’s schedule. (written for this page)
get a person involved	We should bring Maya in on this.	Maya manages the venue
get a skill or a resource involved	We may need to bring in someone who knows the booking system.

The ending on this helps. “That’s useful because it tells the listener why Maya is joining the conversation.” You are not only adding a person; you are saying what they are joining.

There is a social point as well. Bring Sam in alone, Paul says, can sound like an instruction without context. Add the reason: Let’s bring Sam in on this. He worked with the venue last year.

And the reason is worth checking. In the workplace role-play, Emily wants to bring Nina in on a client presentation. Paul, with twenty minutes left, says: “Do we really need another person right now?” Emily’s answer is that Nina can settle one question quickly, and Paul agrees: “Bring her in for one decision, not for everything.” When Nina’s reply shows she has already given them what they need, the final lesson is that bring in is not automatically better because it is in today’s episode. “You involve another person only when that person adds something useful.”

Bring out or bring back: the difference is shown now, or it is remembered

Here the episode repairs a sentence from the end of the repair round: “The two examples bring back the difference between the plans.” It becomes: The two examples bring out the difference between the plans.

The reasoning is the same as before. If a difference is already in front of you and two examples make it clear, that is bring out. If the difference had been forgotten and something helped you remember it, you would use bring back.

Look at how both appear in one conversation, from the game-night role-play. Paul says: “Actually, that brings back our last game night. Two people ended up sitting on the floor.” (a memory returns) Then a few lines later: “The floor example really brings out the space problem. It wasn’t just a little uncomfortable. We couldn’t even see the board properly.” (the same event, now used to make a point clearer). The first line puts the past into the conversation. The second line uses it as evidence.

Bring this back to the main point

There is a fifth use that the episode adds, and it behaves a little differently from the memory meaning. Paul says you can hear Can we bring this back to the main point? It is conversation-management language: return something to an earlier place in the discussion.

Emily’s example is a debate about popcorn flavors that has lasted ten minutes: Can we bring this back to the main point? We still need to choose the room. She adds why it works: “I’m not saying stop talking about popcorn, I’m guiding the conversation back.” The same phrase is useful later, when new information has made the plan too complicated. Emily uses it in the presentation role-play to return to what the client actually wants.

Bring it up: where it goes

For bring up, the object can go in two places. All three of these are fine:

• bring up the issue
• bring the issue up
• bring it up

The one that is not natural is bring up it. With a short word like it, put it in the middle. The same rule with other phrases is explained in Turn It On or Turn On It? Where the Pronoun Goes in Phrasal Verbs.

With a person, both bring Maya in and bring in Maya can occur. Bring Maya in is especially natural when the person’s name is short and specific, and bring Maya in on this makes the idea of involvement very clear.

With bring back in the memory meaning and with bring out, you usually do not worry about this at all, because the subject is the thing that triggers or shows: That photo brings back memories. Her question brings out the real problem.

One sentence, four jobs

Choose the phrase for each situation. Cover the answers first.

1. You want to open a topic about the schedule without sounding negative.
2. A comment makes you remember a mistake from last month.
3. You need Jordan’s knowledge of the booking system.
4. An example makes the difference between two options easy to see.
5. A ten-minute talk about snacks has drifted from the decision.
6. Complete: The old photo ____ a problem we had before.
7. Complete: Let’s ____ Jordan ____ on this.
8. Complete: I don’t want to ____ this problem now. (You mean: raise it in the conversation.)
9. Choose: That example brings up / brings out the difference. (You mean: it becomes clearer.)
10. Choose: We need to bring up Leo / bring Leo in because he has the table. (You want him to join.)

Answers

1. Can I bring up one concern about the schedule?
2. That brings back a problem we had last month.
3. Let’s bring Jordan in on this.
4. That example really brings out the difference.
5. Can we bring this back to the main point?
6. brings back
7. Let’s bring Jordan in on this.
8. I don’t want to bring up this problem now.
9. brings out
10. bring Leo in

Items 1 to 4 follow the four moves of the episode’s quick practice, item 5 follows its last quiz question, and items 6 to 10 are completions and repairs built on the episode’s sentences.

Four sentences to repair

The first three follow sentences from the episode (the first is a variation on its smell example). The fourth was written for this page.

1. The photo brings in my first day at school.
2. This brings out good.
3. Bring Sam in. (no reason)
4. We should bring out the budget at the start of the meeting. (written for this page; you want to raise the budget as a topic)

Answers

1. The photo brings back my first day at school. (or brings back memories of my first day at school)
2. This brings out the best part of the plan. Name the thing.
3. Let’s bring Sam in on this. He worked with the venue last year.
4. We should bring up the budget at the start of the meeting.

A book club that moves in four steps

This conversation was written for this page. It uses each phrase because the situation needs it, not because a drill demanded it.

Lena: Can I bring up one concern before we choose the date? The library room is booked on the third Thursday.

Omar: That brings back last spring. We sat in the corridor for half an hour.

Lena: Exactly. I think we should bring Hana in on this. She works at the front desk.

Omar: Good idea. And look at the sign-up sheet. Twelve people. That really brings out why the small room won’t work.

Lena: Can we bring this back to the main point? We need a date.

Omar: Hana, are you free tomorrow to check the other room?

Read it twice. The second time, cover the four phrases and say them from memory. Then ask each line: what job does it do? Bring up opened the issue, brings back connected it to the past, bring Hana in added the person who knows, really brings out made the problem clearer, and bring this back returned the group to the decision.

Your sixty seconds

Choose a real plan: a trip, a class, a family dinner, a team meeting. Speak for 60 to 120 seconds.

• Raise one concern with bring up.
• Connect it to something from before with bring back.
• Decide whether someone should be involved with bring in. If nobody needs to be, say so.
• Show what an example makes clearer with bring out.
• Finish with a practical next step.

The episode’s short model, so you can hear the shape: “Can I bring up one concern about the picnic? The weather report brings back the problem we had last year when everyone had to move inside. I think we should bring Ana in on this, because she knows whether the hall is free. Last year’s photo really brings out how crowded the small room became. If the hall is available, let’s use it as our backup plan.”

If your first attempt sounds like four definitions in a row, do it again so that each phrase causes the next step: the issue leads to the memory, the memory shows a need for a person or a resource, and the example reveals what matters.

When bring means something else

The episode says it plainly: these phrases have other meanings too, and context decides. Here are the questions that come up most.

Can bring back mean returning an object?

Yes. Emily asks this in the episode: Please bring the book back tomorrow. Paul confirms it. The phrase has several established uses, so notice the people, objects, topic and goal around it.

Does bring up also have other meanings?

Yes. Bring up can also mean to raise a child (She was brought up in a small town). Written for this page: that is a different phrase from the one in the episode, and nobody would confuse them in context.

Is bring in only about people?

No. In the episode it also covers a skill or resource (bring in someone who knows the booking system), and in another sense it means to carry something inside. The meaning here, joining a discussion or a piece of work, is the one the guide uses.

A pocket map of the four moves

Move	The job	A sentence to keep
bring up	open a topic	Can I bring up one concern before we decide?
bring back	return a memory or an earlier point	That brings back a problem we had before.
bring in	add a useful person or resource	Let’s bring Jordan in on this.
bring out	make a quality, contrast or issue clearer	That example really brings out the difference.

Next time one of these phrases appears, don’t ask only what it means. Ask what job it is doing in the conversation. That is the question the episode ends on, and it is the one that stops you choosing the wrong phrase.

Hear it in a real conversation

Want to hear Paul and Emily work through all of this, including the game-night role-play, the client presentation and the pronunciation practice? Listen with the Show Note: Bring Up, Bring Back, Bring In and Bring Out: Four Conversation Moves. It has the chapters, practice that follows the video and the full transcript. If you want a similar guide for another set of four, try How to Choose Between Pick Up, Catch Up, Keep Up and Give Up in English or How to Ask Someone to Turn Something On, Off, Up or Down in English.