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take [transitive] to carry or move something from one place to another

take something Remember to take your coat when you leave.

take something with you I forgot to take my bag with me when I got off the bus.

take somebody something Shall I take my host family a gift?

take something to somebody/something Can you take my suit to the dry-cleaner's?

You need to take your laptop to the technician.

take something for somebody/something Don't forget to take a present for Catherine's new baby.

put somebody/something + adv./prep. to cause somebody/something to go to a particular place

Her family put her into a nursing home.

It was the year the Americans put a man on the moon.

Now, I want to express "to take the clothes from a certain place to the bed & then put them on the bed".

I am not sure it I can combine these 2 actions "take" & "put" into just one verb "take". For example, is it okay to say "to take the clothes onto the bed"?

However, we have to verb "put" which means "to cause somebody/something to go to a particular place".

I am not sure if "to put the clothes on the bed" means "to take the clothes from a certain place to the bed & then put them on the bed".

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  • Are you talking about clothes for a person or for the bed?
    – phoog
    May 2, 2020 at 6:58
  • You say "put the clothes on the bed". If you mean preparing the bed for use, for example wrapping a bottom sheet round the mattress and/or putting a cover onto a duvet, you would use the expression "make the bed". The complete sentence would be "I got the bedclothes from the cupboard and made the bed".
    – JavaLatte
    Sep 7, 2021 at 12:08

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Take onto the bed would only work if you were to lie down on the bed while holding the clothes. You can, for example, take something onto a ship when you go aboard carrying it, but for placing something on a piece of furniture it has to be take them to the bed and put them on it.

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  • but instead of saying "take them to the bed and put them on it", can I just say "put them on the bed" because "put" may mean "to cause something to a place"?
    – Tom
    Apr 27, 2020 at 13:44
  • Yes, certainly you can.
    – Kate Bunting
    Apr 27, 2020 at 14:03

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