Page 8 | Why do people get bought and brought mixed up?

Starllight · 2023-01-30T07:41:26+00:00

A Monday morning irk of mine… Surely people know the difference? Bought - past tense of buy Brought - past tense of bring As a side note, where I now live in Scotland I have never come across anyone get this mixed up. Perhaps that’s why it irks me when I see it?! YABU - They’re both very similar and easy to get them mixed up YANBU - It looks/sounds completely ridiculous when people use ‘brought’ instead of bought

FuzzyPuffling · 30/01/2023 08:30

Simonjt · 30/01/2023 07:57

I learned English in nottinghamshire, bought and brought were pronounced exactly the same.

I was born and brought up in Nottingham and in my experience this is just not true.

SocksAndTheCity · 30/01/2023 08:29

I can't vote because both of the options are true.

Treacletreacle · 30/01/2023 08:29

Ive got then wrong before and had a smug friend point it out to me with past examples of when I have said it wrong. Has it made me remember to use the correct word? No it makes me have a mild panic when in conversation with her. Surely much better things to get bothered by in life..

Catnary · 30/01/2023 08:29

SinnerBoy · 30/01/2023 08:24

Catnary · Today 08:10

Could be either.

It's really not:

Bring it here.
Take it there.

No. I’m afraid you are not right, and your daughter’s teacher is not wrong.

You bring something when you are going from A to B anyway and you do so with the item in your hand, bag or pocket.

“I will bring the book back tomorrow”

“Don’t forget to bring your socks to soft play”

You take something when the journey is dictated by where you want the object to go, rather than whether you were going anyway:

“I’m just taking some food over to Granny”.

“Take the car to the garage”

”Take with” means the same as “bring” - “we’re late, you’ll need to take your breakfast with you”.

KillingLoneliness · 30/01/2023 08:28

Aloud/Allowed 😩

BitOutOfPractice · 30/01/2023 08:28

@Catnary it is perfectly possible to exchange the two words though and still have a correct sentence.

I bought an apple.
i brought an apple.

Of course they have completely different meanings. I know that, you know that, the op knows that. But it doesn’t take the brains of Einstein to work out why some people might confuse them does it?

I hate these disingenuous questions, like another poster said, which are asked to prove how clever the op is. It’s really not cool.

Plbrookes · 30/01/2023 08:27

SinnerBoy · 30/01/2023 08:24

Catnary · Today 08:10

Could be either.

It's really not:

Bring it here.
Take it there.

So ... what would you say if you were in work when you were describing your actions? 'Brought' or 'took'?

SinnerBoy · 30/01/2023 08:26

Breggzit / Beggzit, surely?

😁

TwoLeftSocksWithHoles · 30/01/2023 08:25

I blame the moral decline of society, Social Media, the Tories, Reality Television 'Shows' and Climate Change.

and Brexit of course, (known as Bexit in our house).

😆

kingtamponthefurred · 30/01/2023 08:24

Some people don't read books and have never seen the word written correctly, and also don't think about what they are saying.

SinnerBoy · 30/01/2023 08:24

Catnary · Today 08:10

Could be either.

It's really not:

Bring it here.
Take it there.

Plbrookes · 30/01/2023 08:23

SinnerBoy · 30/01/2023 08:07

BogRollBOGOF · Today 08:05

I went to the shop and I bought a coffee. I brought it to work as I had to rush.

There's another one, it's "I took it to work."

Not really. If you were in work at the time you would usually say 'brought'. If you weren't, you would usually say 'took'.

SinnerBoy · 30/01/2023 08:22

Starllight · Today 08:09

That’s a good point - I would say ‘took’ instead of ‘brought’ in most scenarios I can think of

It irks me a bit, my daughter will say, "I need to bring Xyz to school tomorrow," as the teacher has told her to bring it.

gemstonesandals · 30/01/2023 08:22

Oysterbabe · 30/01/2023 08:09

Maybe they haven't had their morning coffee?

God I hate these posts. The faux innocent 'I just don't understand why people aren't as perfect and clever as I am, I genuinely want to know,

My mum mixed it up because she was dragged up, abused and never educated. My best friend mixes them up because she's severely dyslexic. The woman I chat to on the school run mixes them up because English isn't her first language.

This.

You know what they mean, so just ignore it! Not everyone is great at English grammar and spelling, for a whole plethora of reasons.

It only annoys me if it's in a printed publication which really should have been checked and edited.

Original poster

Starllight · 30/01/2023 08:22

Pennyforthezombies · 30/01/2023 08:18

I’m in my 50’s and still have to say in my head ‘buy and bought, bring and brought’ whenever I write it out. It just doesn’t stick and I guess after all these years it’s not going to 😁

Thanks for this perspective. I genuinely was interested as it’s so distinctively different to me (apart from when I made my faux pas further up the post 😅)

OP posts:

Plbrookes · 30/01/2023 08:19

Glwysen · 30/01/2023 07:57

I can remember someone correcting me on this in my first year at university. I had never realised that i mixed them up!

Oh and I wasn’t stupid - it was Cambridge…

How can you tell someone went to Cambridge?

Pennyforthezombies · 30/01/2023 08:18

I’m in my 50’s and still have to say in my head ‘buy and bought, bring and brought’ whenever I write it out. It just doesn’t stick and I guess after all these years it’s not going to 😁

Catnary · 30/01/2023 08:18

BitOutOfPractice · 30/01/2023 08:10

You’re welcome! 😉

But seriously, it was a really stupid question, especially as you yourself have proved how the two can be confusing! There are much better examples of words people confuse for no good reason - like pacific and specific.

And surely the Scottish situation is easily explained by the accent and the rolling R sound.

I love a bit of pedantry but this is a poor example!

Show quote history

I don’t think that is quite fair BOOP, the meanings of “bought” and “brought” are very distinct.

There is no context in which you would describe the act of handing over money in exchange for an item as “bringing” and to most people it’s a fairly simple exercise- “br” in the infinitive matches up with “br” in the past participle.

Autocorrect and written word blindness will play a part though.

pinkmummy1 · 30/01/2023 08:14

I'm dyslexic and people like you that would just assume I'm lazy and stupid are the reason I never comment or post on mumsnet.

IJustHadToLookHavingReadTheBook · 30/01/2023 08:14

Meh. I'm an English teacher and I have to stop and actively think about it when I have cause to use one to write down. Doesn't help that in my accent they're virtually indistinguishable from one another. There are bigger fish to fry than this. Teach your children it, remind them when they use it wrong, but other than that don't get too cross about it, this shit is hard for a lot of people.

BitOutOfPractice · 30/01/2023 08:10

Starllight · 30/01/2023 07:57

Thanks for your sarcasm! I genuinely wanted to know as in 20 years in Scotland I have never seen/heard it get mixed up

Show quote history

You’re welcome! 😉

But seriously, it was a really stupid question, especially as you yourself have proved how the two can be confusing! There are much better examples of words people confuse for no good reason - like pacific and specific.

And surely the Scottish situation is easily explained by the accent and the rolling R sound.

I love a bit of pedantry but this is a poor example!

Catnary · 30/01/2023 08:10

SinnerBoy · 30/01/2023 08:07

BogRollBOGOF · Today 08:05

I went to the shop and I bought a coffee. I brought it to work as I had to rush.

There's another one, it's "I took it to work."

Could be either.

Oysterbabe · 30/01/2023 08:09

Maybe they haven't had their morning coffee?

God I hate these posts. The faux innocent 'I just don't understand why people aren't as perfect and clever as I am, I genuinely want to know,

My mum mixed it up because she was dragged up, abused and never educated. My best friend mixes them up because she's severely dyslexic. The woman I chat to on the school run mixes them up because English isn't her first language.

Original poster

Starllight · 30/01/2023 08:09

SinnerBoy · 30/01/2023 08:07

BogRollBOGOF · Today 08:05

I went to the shop and I bought a coffee. I brought it to work as I had to rush.

There's another one, it's "I took it to work."

That’s a good point - I would say ‘took’ instead of ‘brought’ in most scenarios I can think of

OP posts:

Original poster

Starllight · 30/01/2023 08:08

ApplePippa · 30/01/2023 08:07

I think you've answered your own question OP 😁

A perfect demonstration of how easy it is to get wrong.

So cross with myself for proving my point! My defence is that I was word blind due to seeing the words written so often 😉

OP posts: