Word Choice Bought vs. Brought - Proofeds Writing Tips Blog

Word Choice Bought vs. Brought Word Choice: Bought vs. Brought The words â€Å"buy† and â€Å"bring† are easy to tell apart. The past tense versions of these words, however, are very similar, which can lead to confusion. That is partly because these are irregular verbs, so we can’t add an â€Å"-ed† and say â€Å"buyed† and â€Å"bringed† (even if that would be simpler). In this post, then, we’re looking at the words â€Å"bought† and â€Å"brought.† Bought (Past Tense of â€Å"Buy†) â€Å"Bought† is the simple past tense and past participle of â€Å"buy.† We use it when someone has exchanged money for something. For example: I went to the store and bought cookies. Here, for example, the speaker is describing having purchased baked goods. This is the main use of â€Å"bought,† but it is also used for other senses of â€Å"buy.† These include believing something (e.g., â€Å"I can’t believe she bought his lie†) or bribing someone (e.g., â€Å"they bought the police chief’s silence with an envelope of money†). These are less formal uses of the word, though. Brought (Past Tense of â€Å"Bring†) We use â€Å"brought† when someone or something has been taken somewhere. For instance: I brought my sister to the party with me. Another common use of this term is to mean â€Å"made to happen,† such as in: After the party ended in disaster, we brought legal action against the host. In all cases, â€Å"brought† is the simple past tense or past participle of â€Å"bring.† Bought or Brought? These words are easy to mix up if you’re not careful. This could be problematic, since only one implies spending money. One tip is to get your work proofread, which will help you avoid typos. But if you’re ever unsure which term to use, keep in mind that both â€Å"bring† and â€Å"brought† start with â€Å"br,† whereas neither â€Å"buy† nor â€Å"bought† contain an â€Å"r.† Remember: Bought = Simple past tense of buy† Brought = Simple past tense of bring†