Translations of take

Question

In the first sentence, "...if you ended up alone on a desert island, and (that) you could only take one thing with you..." the french verb prendre is not accepted for take.  Yet in the third sentence,  "OK, if I had to take one thing I can't do without...", prendre is in fact usedfor take.  The context seems the same in both sentences.  Should not prendre be acceptable in the first sentence as well ?

Accepted Answer

The best fit for "to bring with you" is emporter in this case. Strictly speaking, emmener is bad style because it is only used for animate objects (people, animals). You could say prendre avec but that's not good style either.
Prendre, although also translated as "to take" in English, is a different kind of taking. It means "to take" in a figurative sense as in "taking a shower", "taking a coffee", etc. In this context it means more like "to have": to have a shower, to have a coffee, etc. It doesn't mean taking something with you. For that you'd always use emmener/emporter or amener/apporter.