Bring to your attention is a polite fixed phrase used to point out something a reader may have missed. To use bring to your attention in a sentence, name the matter and keep a possessive pronoun: “I bring to your attention an error in the invoice.” The phrase is transitive and formal, at home in email and reports.
Bring to your attention at a glance
- Bring to your attention is a fixed phrase meaning to point something out politely to a reader.
- The possessive pronoun changes with the reader: bring to my, his, her, our or their attention.
- The matter itself sits between bring and the phrase to your attention.
- The phrase belongs to email, memos, minutes, reports and customer letters.
- The commonest error is writing bring your attention to the matter and shifting the whole frame.
What does bring to your attention mean?
Bring to your attention is a transitive verb phrase meaning to point out a matter, usually one the reader may not have noticed, in a polite and slightly formal way. The Cambridge entry for bring to your attention records it as the act of telling someone about something, and the politeness is part of the meaning rather than a decoration added to it.
| Job of the phrase | Plain meaning | Example sentence |
|---|---|---|
| Inform | Tell a reader a fact they need | I bring to your attention the new opening times. |
| Flag a problem | Point out something that looks wrong | She brought to my attention a gap in the figures. |
| Remind | Raise a point that was nearly forgotten | May I bring to your attention the deadline on Friday? |
One limit is worth stating plainly. The phrase does not mean to complain, to demand or to overrule. It raises a matter and leaves the decision with the reader, which is why it suits a first email but not a final warning. At a desk, a colleague would simply mention a concern rather than frame it so formally.
How do you use bring to your attention in a sentence?
The phrase is fixed in word order but flexible in two places: the possessive changes with the reader, and the matter slots between bring and to. Tense and subject change freely, so the same frame serves a present email and a past report.
| Pattern | Example | What it signals |
|---|---|---|
| I bring to your attention + matter | I bring to your attention a delay in delivery. | Present tense, direct and polite, the most common email opening. |
| I bring + matter + to your attention | I bring the delay to your attention. | The matter is named first, which stresses the problem itself. |
| be brought to your attention | The delay was brought to my attention yesterday. | Passive, used when the writer is not the one who noticed. |
| May I bring to your attention + matter? | May I bring to your attention a small charge? | A question form that softens the approach further. |
| bring + to + possessive + attention + that-clause | I bring to your attention that the invoice is unpaid. | A full clause, common in formal minutes and letters. |
The order is what marks the phrase. Bring your attention to the matter reverses the frame and turns the reader’s attention into the object, which is a different sentence with a different emphasis. Both exist, but only the first is the fixed phrase that dictionaries list.
Bring to your attention in a sentence: examples across contexts
The phrase changes register more than it changes meaning. The nine sentences below keep the same frame while moving from a school note to a legal letter, and each one names the matter being raised.
| Context | Example sentence | Why this works |
|---|---|---|
| Classroom note | I bring to your attention that Friday is the last day for the trip form. | A plain fact and a date suit a short note home. |
| Workplace email | I bring to your attention a mismatch between the order and the invoice. | Names one concrete problem without assigning blame. |
| Customer service | We bring to your attention a change to your delivery date. | Uses we, which spreads the message across a team. |
| Meeting minutes | The treasurer brought to the committee’s attention the shortfall in donations. | Past tense and a named body suit a formal record. |
| Formal letter | I bring to your attention the terms set out in clause four. | The matter is a document, which keeps the tone impersonal. |
| Academic writing | The review brings to our attention two gaps in the evidence. | Plural possessive and an abstract object suit a review. |
| News report | The audit brought to light several missing receipts. | A related frame that reports without addressing a reader. |
| Conversation | Can I bring one thing to your attention before we start? | The question form sounds spoken and keeps the matter for later. |
| Health notice | We bring to your attention the new visiting hours. | A neutral notice where the verb frames a simple update. |
Notice that the audience controls the possessive. A writer addressing one person uses your; someone speaking for a team uses our; a report about a third party uses the or their.
Bring to your attention vs inform, notify and point out
The phrase overlaps with three plainer verbs and is interchangeable with none of them. inform a colleague is neutral and factual; notify a customer carries an official duty; point out suggests a detail the other person missed.
| Attribute | bring to your attention | inform | notify |
|---|---|---|---|
| Core job | Politely flag a matter to a reader | Give someone facts they need | Officially tell someone of a decision |
| Tone | Courteous and slightly formal | Neutral | Formal and procedural |
| Typical subject | I, we, the report, the audit | Anyone with news | A body with a duty to tell |
| Implied response | Acknowledged, then decided by the reader | Understood | Acted on within a deadline |
| Where it lives | Emails, minutes, letters, reports | Everyday and formal writing | Contracts, policies, official notices |
Verdict: use bring to your attention when you want to raise a matter courteously and leave the decision open, inform when you are simply passing on facts, and notify when a rule obliges you to tell someone formally.
Word forms and grammar of bring to your attention
The phrase is a fixed frame, so the grammar is about what may move inside it. The possessive pronoun is free, the matter is free, and the verb bring carries every tense. The related adjective attentive shares the root and describes a reader who listens, while the noun attentiveness names the quality of paying careful attention.
| Form | What changes | Example |
|---|---|---|
| bring to your attention | Base form, present | I bring to your attention a safety concern. |
| brought to your attention | Past and past participle | The fault was brought to our attention by a parent. |
| bringing to your attention | Present participle | I am bringing to your attention one last point. |
| to my / his / her / our / their attention | The possessive pronoun | She brought the fee to his attention. |
| bring your attention to | Reversed, a different frame | I bring your attention to the appendix. |
| bring to attention | Possessive dropped, headline style | The report brought to attention a widening gap. |
The dropped possessive in the last row is common in headlines and bullet points, where space is short, but it reads oddly in a normal email. Keep the possessive in full sentences: bring to your attention, not bring to attention.
Common mistakes with bring to your attention
- Incorrect:
I bring to your attention about the missing file.Correct: I bring to your attention the missing file. Rule: The phrase takes a direct object; do not add about before it. - Incorrect:
I bring your attention to the matter up.Correct: I bring the matter to your attention. Rule: Keep the fixed order bring + matter + to your attention. - Incorrect:
Please bring to your attention the deadline.Correct: Please note the deadline, or I bring to your attention the deadline. Rule: The phrase is not an imperative; the writer does the bringing. - Incorrect:
It was brought to your attention by me yesterday.Correct: I brought it to your attention yesterday. Rule: Do not bury an active subject in a needless passive with by me. - Incorrect:
I bring to attention you that the room is booked.Correct: I bring to your attention that the room is booked. Rule: The possessive belongs before attention, not before the clause.
Practice using bring to your attention
Work through the six items, then check the reasoning rather than only the answer.
- Fill the gap: I ______ to your attention a change to the meeting room.
- Choose the better phrase: A contract clause usually (notifies / brings to your attention) a customer, while a colleague raises a small point by (notifying / bringing it to your attention).
- Correct the error: She brought to her manager attention the missing receipt.
- Build a sentence: use be brought to your attention about a mistake found in a school newsletter.
- Spot the register: which belongs in a firm’s formal letter — I bring to your attention an unpaid balance, or hey, heads up about the bill?
- Rewrite with a plainer verb: May I bring to your attention the late bus? Use mention instead.
Answers
- bring — the present-tense frame is I bring to your attention plus the matter.
- notifies, then bringing it to your attention — a duty to tell suits notify, a courteous point suits the phrase.
- She brought the missing receipt to her manager’s attention — the matter goes between bring and the possessive.
- Model answer: The wrong date was brought to our attention before the newsletters were posted.
- I bring to your attention an unpaid balance — a formal letter keeps the courteous frame and avoids slang.
- May I mention the late bus — the plainer verb keeps the same polite offer to raise a point.
The bottom line
Use bring to your attention in a sentence when you want to raise one matter politely and let the reader decide what to do, and put that matter between bring and the phrase to your attention. The two points that settle most sentences are these: the possessive pronoun tracks the person addressed, and the frame is not an imperative, so the writer does the bringing. Where a duty to tell exists, alert a manager and notify are the more precise choices.
Frequently asked questions about bring to your attention
Is bring to your attention formal?
It is courteous and slightly formal, which is why it suits email, minutes and customer letters. In conversation it can sound stiff, so most speakers say I wanted to mention instead. The phrase is polite rather than grand, and it fits any workplace where a calm tone is expected.
Do you say bring to your attention or bring it to your attention?
Both are correct, but the position depends on how much you have said before. If the matter is already known, use the pronoun: I bring it to your attention. If it is new, name it: I bring to your attention a delay. The pronoun keeps the sentence short; the full noun keeps it clear.
What can I use instead of bring to your attention?
For a light, spoken tone use mention or flag. For a neutral, factual tone use inform or tell you. For an official duty use notify or advise. The phrase itself is best when you want to stay courteous and leave the decision with the reader rather than demand action.
Can you bring something to attention in the past tense?
Yes, and the past is common in minutes and reports: she brought the shortfall to the committee’s attention. The passive also works well when the writer did not spot the matter: the fault was brought to our attention by a parent. Only the possessive and the verb change.
