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  1. Is one of the following constructions incorrect?

  2. If not, do they differ semantically in any way, even if only mildly so?

    • Sometimes, I bring my lunch to work with me.
    • Sometimes, I bring my lunch with me to work

Usually, I prefer fewer words between 'to' and its complement. However, I don't actually know whether, or how, the arrangement of the words affects the meaning of the sentence or whether some people regard some common arrangements as incorrect.

Edit: Although, thinking about it now, 'I bring' entails 'with me'; perhaps I should just write Sometimes, I bring my lunch to work.

Thank you.

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    I think the 'with me' is redundant in both and should be omitted.
    – DWin
    Commented Dec 19, 2013 at 20:34
  • Yeah, agreed. I cut it out.
    – Hal
    Commented Dec 20, 2013 at 12:42

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In the example you give, both phrases to work and with me are adverbial phrases modifying the verb bring. In this example, changing the word order does not create ambiguity, because neither phrase is likely to be misconstrued to refer to some other part of the sentence.

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    Yes; contrast: Tomorrow, I'm going to ask Danny to come to work with me / Tomorrow, I'm going to ask Danny to come with me to work. The latter, I'd say, will more probably be interpreted as Tomorrow, I'm going to ask Danny to come with me to do some work.
    – Edwin Ashworth
    Commented Dec 19, 2013 at 16:39
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    @EdwinAshworth Excellent point. But interestingly, the ambiguity is partly derived from the shift of to work from a preposition/noun phrase to an infinitive.
    – bib
    Commented Dec 19, 2013 at 17:06

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