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

They do say it. I've come across it as a spoken mistake more often than as a written one.

Who’s instead of whose.

To me a lot of these mistakes are down to a popular (and IMO lazy) attitude that these things don’t matter any more, nobody cares.
But a good many still do.

I don’t think they’re difficult, either, if clearly and properly taught.
I used to teach English to young adults, 99% of whom were speakers of Arabic. They had no trouble with e.g. it’s/its, there/their etc. after an explanation and a worksheet.

I’m one who uses it wrong even been pulled up on here about wrong grammar before.

I don’t recall it ever being taught at school same as your you’re or there their they’re. Even in college nothing was said about it and we did a lot of written course work.

Also online however you have phones auto correcting to words they think you want which may not be at all.

I don't get any other words mixed up (you're , your, their, there etc) but when I was teaching DS to read I realised I didn't really know when it was bought and when it was brought. I think it could be because I didn't really use the words in speech that much. For example, maybe I would say " I got some apples from the shop" instead of "I bought some apples from the shop". I think perhaps people mix them up as we don't always use the words in spoken conversation that much although they are written in children's books a lot!
Then there is the use of bring or take and which one to use which is another kettle of fish.

Yes!

And clique / click

Peak / peek

I guess a lot of people don’t read enough to become good at spelling 🤷‍♀️

I always use the wrong discrete/ discreet.

I’ve never really seen this. But it’s the “draws” instead of drawers thing for me. It’s such a common term, spoken and written regularly, it’s surprising when people don’t know a drawer is called a drawer and erroneously think it’s a draw.

'Lead' is frequently written where 'led' is meant. But life goes on ...

That one really does make me cringe. Bought/brought I find much easier to understand. It's quite obvious to me how that happens.

I always use the wrong discrete/ discreet

The way to remember is: Crete is an island, on its own. So discrete is a standalone point. That was a game changer for me 🙂

I think with bought and brought it's mostly down to Scots rolling their rrrrrrrs. I've never really seen or heard it up here.

The majority of people seem to say loose when they mean lose.

I do think bought/brought is an English thing. I'm Irish and an equivalent one I've seen among Irish people is thought/taught because a lot of people pronounce them similarly.

Have you noticed a Scottish equivalent OP?

Same with draw and drawer. Scots tend to say dror or draw-er so harder to mix up with draw.

Maybe they need to start teaching as if the taught ESOL students. Don't know personally single fellow immigrant who would not get have/of, brought/bought and so on. Schools proper drilled it in! I still wake up thinking of irregular verbs!😂

The majority of people seem to say loose when they mean lose.

Does anybody actually say loose when they mean lose? I see quite a few people make the mistake whine writing. I often wonder if they tut whenever they see it written correctly.

come on OP, I am sure there's one spelling you occasionally get wrong!

While writing?

The main thing I notice with Scots is saying 'have went' instead of gone. My own extremely well educated DH, in a senior job, thinks nothing of saying

And as you'll see from figure 19a of your packs, the markets have went down significantly in the 3rd quarter...

🤦🏻‍♀️ He says nobody at his work is bothered by it as long as he makes them money but it bothers me!

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?!

We know how to roll our Rs.

Off the top of my head I can’t think of words that regularly get mixed up.

The regional dialects up here are weird and wonderful though! One thing an English friend pointed out to me was when I said ‘I’m coming just now’. I didn’t realise until then that we unnecessarily say ‘just’. People will sometimes say ‘I’m coming the now’ 😅

I think r is quite a weak sound in a lot of English accents and it can easily be missed, but also, people mispronounce words all the time, and not everybody thinks about language in a joined up way (past tense of bring vs buy etc) - somebody could very well assume that there is just one word (bought/brought) and it's just people pronouncing it differently. So they use whichever is their preferred pronunciation interchangeably.

There are lots of words in English which have two meanings, so it wouldn't be that weird. And the meaning isn't even that dissimilar anyway. You could use brought in most places where you mean bought and it could have the same meaning, because in purchasing (buying) an item, you usually also take (bring) it away from the shop or vendor.

I also think it's true people live in a more verbal world - it's therefore easy.
Also, as PP's example showed, the two words can be used in similar circumstances as in:
At a party: Did you bring any wine? v Did you buy any wine?
Answer yes. (I bought it and then I brought it - either way - we have wine)

Secondly though poor education followed by an outcry, (trying to be inclusive) if you try to educate or correct.

One thing an English friend pointed out to me was when I said ‘I’m coming just now’. I didn’t realise until then that we unnecessarily say ‘just’

😂 I would definitely just say this and not even realise it. It's been pointed out to me that I say 'so' a lot, and in particular I start every sentence with so... My brother ends every sentence with 'but' for some reason.

Was work ok this week?
Yeah, glad it's Friday, but.
You having a takeaway?
Nah, got some food in the fridge, but.

🤷‍♀️

I wouldn’t judge based on MN threads OP. People are often typing quickly, on phones with tiny touchscreens, and my phone does an annoying autocorrect. I can’t be bothered to proof everything because I have a masters degree and know I can spell very well ta very much. Also let’s not forget this is just a SM platform and (mostly) supposed to be a bit of fun/light relief.

There are threads on this sort of thing ALLLL the time. Any minute now someone will come along agreeing with you and make a typo themselves. Then quickly highlight it was ‘a mistake’ and of course they know how to spell, it’s just everyone else who doesn’t 🤷‍♀️

Think you just demonstrated why it's often mixed up in your last set of definitions.