Why do people get bought and brought mixed up?

[Starllight]

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

I get what you mean as it isn’t hard to think brought=bring, but I distinctly remember having to teach myself as I got it confused, so I can understand the error.

And your/you're

They sound very similar and they mean similar things.
I could say I bought an apple or I brought an apple, either way I have an apple.
Pretty easy for someine to mix them up

Educational standards.
No losers.

Has and as.

Does the local accent roll the 'r' in brought though? That might be why it gets noticed and remembered?
But yes, hate it too.

Thanks for your perspective.

I see if frequently on MN so it obviously is quite easily mixed up by people. To me they are so different which is why I can’t understand how they get mixed up.

I don’t think they mean similar things though, like a PP said. In my head they almost mean opposites. Brought - you buy something so take it from the shop. Brought - you bring something so you take it with you

For the same reason others have issues with
There/They’re/Their
Your/You’re
Witch/Which

Then there are the ‘similar’ spelling but distinctively different words that some people also struggle with
Definitely/Defiantly

Because they sound similar and many people live in a more verbal world.
Hence of/have etc
But English/language evolves.

I have never seen or heard it in Scotland.

Perhaps it’s more common in certain parts of England than others?

Because they're only one letter different? I'm not one of them, but seems obvious why to me!

Stupidity. There are a lot of stupid people in the world. Education standards in the UK don't help either.

😆sorry OP but, the irony..
Brought - you buy something so take it from the shop. Brought - you bring something so you take it with you

Erm, I have no idea why people would get confused between two almost identically spelled and pronounced words whose meanings could easily be interchangeable in a sentence! It really is a puzzle!

Yes and don't even get me started on specific and Pacific

They're similar words and their meanings aren't a million miles apart. People get all sorts of things mixed up - it's quite normal.

Oh the shame!!! How red faced am I right now as someone who has slated it!

I’ll blame my lack of morning coffee 😅

This drives me mad too!!

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…

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

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

As in a regional dropping the 'h's' type thing?

Loose and lose

We are generally much more aware of the “r” sound in Scotland as it is pronounced quite clearly in most words that contain it- think how we say “door” and “car” compared to an English ”doh” and “cah”. So to a lot of English people, they are used to writing words that contain an “r” that they do not pronounce. We are not.

We don’t do that thing either that English people do, adding an “r” in between vowel sounds - “drawRing”, “JessicaR Ennis”.

“Brought” is a funny one though as the “r” is not silent for English people either!

What I don’t know is whether they also SAY “brought” when they mean “bought” or whether they just write it. (I actually live in London and I don’t think I have ever heard anyone say it)

Abit. Alot. 😩