Brought vs Bought
There is a great difference brought and bought in their meanings yet these two words are confused as words that give the same meaning. These two words are often confused when it comes to their application and are wrongly interchanged sometimes. The words brought and bought are both used as verbs. The word brought is used as the past and past participle form of the verb ‘bring’ and the word bought is used as the past tense and past participle form of the verb ‘buy’.
What does Brought mean?
The word brought is the past tense of the verb bring. Observe the sentences given below:
He brought some money for me.
She brought the children from the school.
In both the sentences, you can see that the word brought is used as the past tense form of the verb ‘bring’. Therefore, the first sentence would mean that ‘he had some money with him for me’ and the second sentence would mean ‘ she took the children from the school.’ Moreover, brought is also the past participle of the irregular verb bring. Examine the following examples.
She had brought her cat with her.
They have brought their guitars for practise.
In both the past perfect tense in the first sentences and the present perfect tense in the second, brought is used as the past participle of the verb bring. The verb brought is normally used with prepositions to form ‘brought from’, ‘brought for’ and ‘brought to’ as in the sentences given below:
She brought the clothes from the merchant.
You brought them for your sons.
You brought it to me.
You can see that the word brought is used in all the three sentences with different prepositions to give different senses.
What does Bought mean?
On the other hand, the word bought is the past tense form of the verb buy. Keeping that in mind, observe the sentences given below:
He bought two apples for low price.
She bought a nice shirt for her husband.
In both the sentences, you can find that the word bought is used as the past tense form of the verb ‘buy’. This is the main difference between the two words, namely, brought and bought. Now, according to this, the first sentence would mean ‘he obtained two apples in exchange for low payment’ and the second sentence would mean ‘she obtained a nice shirt in exchange for payment for her husband.’ Moreover, bought is also the past participle of the irregular verb buy. Examine the following examples.
She had bought a new car.
They have bought some pizzas for the party.
In both the past perfect tense in the first sentences and the present perfect tense in the second, bought is used as the past participle of the verb buy. In the same way as brought, the word bought is also used with prepositions to form ‘bought from’, ‘bought for’ and ‘bought to’ with different meanings in each case. It is always important to understand the different sense attached to them every time they are used in sentences either written or spoken.
What is the difference between Brought and Bought?
• The word brought is the past tense of the verb bring.
• On the other hand, the word bought is the past tense form of the verb buy.
• Brought is also the past participle of the irregular verb bring.
• Bought is also the past participle of the irregular verb buy.
• The verb brought is normally used with prepositions to form ‘brought from’, ‘brought for’ and ‘brought to.’
• The word bought is also used with prepositions to form ‘bought from’, ‘bought for’ and ‘bought to’ with different meanings in each case.