student asking question

Inside the text message, is it okay to replace "by the college" with "to the collage"?

teacher

Native speaker’s answer

Rebecca

Yes, it is okay to replace "by the college" with "to the college" in this case, however, there is a slight difference in nuance between the two sentences. To "bring something by" is a phrase that means to drop something off casually, especially if the destination is already conveniently on someone's way. So in this case, "bring it by the college for me tomorrow" implies that the person bringing the laptop is already going to the college tomorrow and can bring the laptop while they are there. To "bring something to" is a little bit different because it often implies that someone is making a special trip to bring something somewhere, and the destination isn't a place that they are already going to.

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