ESEN
Which one to use?Beginnerverb (past)verb (past)
BoughtvsBrought
'Bought' is the past tense of 'buy' (to purchase); 'brought' is the past tense of 'bring' (to carry to a place).
Side-by-side comparison
Bought
verb (past)"Bought" is the past tense and past participle of "buy": you purchased something. "I bought a ticket" = I purchased a ticket.
She bought three new books at the airport before the long flight home.
They bought the company for far less than its estimated market value.
He bought a coffee and sat by the window to read for an hour.
Brought
verb (past)"Brought" is the past tense and past participle of "bring": you carried something here. "She brought a gift" = she carried a gift toward us. Movement toward this place.
She brought her laptop to the meeting so everyone could see the revised presentation.
He brought his entire team together for a strategy session at the end of the quarter.
The new CEO brought a completely different management philosophy to the organisation.
Common mistake
"I brought a new phone" is wrong if you purchased it: the past of "buy" is "bought". "Brought" is the past of "bring". Also "I buyed" and "I bringed" don't exist, both verbs are irregular.
Trick to remember it
"Bought" keeps the B-U from "buy". "Brought" keeps the B-R from "bring". BUY → BOUGHT. BRING → BROUGHT. The R in "bring" stays because you're bringing something here.
Quick rule
- •Past of "buy" (to purchase)? "Bought".
- •Past of "bring" (to carry here)? "Brought".
Did you know?
"Buy" and "bring" share the same -OUGHT past tense pattern. The same appears in: think/thought, seek/sought, fight/fought, catch/caught, teach/taught. This comes from Old English where the past was formed by changing the internal vowel. The pronunciation of -OUGHT is always /ɔːt/, the same sound in bought, brought, thought, fought, caught, taught. Eight high-frequency words, all with the same sound, all from the same historical pattern.
Practise what you learned
Exercise 1 · Pick the right one
She _____ a gift for the birthday party and everyone loved it.
Exercise 2 · Pick the right one
He _____ a new laptop because his old one was too slow.
Exercise 3 · Form the word
Related word pairs
AcceptvsExcept
One means to receive or agree to something, the other means to exclude or not include.
AdvicevsAdvise
'Advice' is the guidance you receive (noun); 'advise' is the act of giving that guidance (verb).
AffectvsEffect
'Affect' is the verb meaning to influence something; 'effect' is the noun meaning result or consequence.
AislevsIsle
'Aisle' is the walkway between rows of seats or shelves; 'isle' is a small island.
Bryan López
Founder of SpeakUP Academy