Why do people spell bought as brought?

Fishfingers said:
Just an error by the writer/speaker, similar to how people erroneously use the different spellings of there/their, whether/weather or the wrong use or misplacement of an apostrophe.

English is a difficult language, people are bound to make mistakes here and their (sic).
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English isn't a difficult language at all. It's grammar is among some of the simplest in ther world. However, it is a confusing language in terms of it's grammar owing to the similar sounding words and conjugation of verbs.
 
My grammar and I (or should that be 'Me'?)

Not forgetting the Toff's Error: "He's invited the wife and I", called as such because some people believe it sounds posh. They are wrong and the lack of schooling shows..

I = subject
Me = object
 
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Freefaller said:
English isn't a difficult language at all. It's grammar is among some of the simplest in ther world. However, it is a confusing language in terms of it's grammar owing to the similar sounding words and conjugation of verbs.
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Confusing and difficult go hand in hand when you are talking about language, English is littered with irregular verbs and nouns, the over-complication of the present tense (As other European languages tend to say 'I play, I watch' where as in English it extends to 'I am playing', I am watching'), the need to know many words that pertain to the same meaning (The word for sun, you also need to know the word solar means sun to understand the term solar cycle and solar-power), our vowel sounds are different in pronunciation to a lot of European languages, not to mention the amount of foreign words and phrases as well that have found there way into the English language over time such as 'comme si, comme ca' and 'Bereau de change'. This is to name but a few points of difficulty/confusion.

I agree with you that it is confusing, but I would say that confusion in language makes it difficult.
 
Fishfingers said:
Confusing and difficult go hand in hand when you are talking about language, English is littered with irregular verbs and nouns, the over-complication of the present tense (As other European languages tend to say 'I play, I watch' where as in English it extends to 'I am playing', I am watching'), the need to know many words that pertain to the same meaning (The word for sun, you also need to know the word solar means sun to understand the term solar cycle and solar-power), our vowel sounds are different in pronunciation to a lot of European languages, not to mention the amount of foreign words and phrases as well that have found there way into the English language over time such as 'comme si, comme ca' and 'Bereau de change'. This is to name but a few points of difficulty/confusion.

I agree with you that it is confusing, but I would say that confusion in language makes it difficult.
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It becomes more confusing when you know a few other languages. plus this is a forum and keyboard error. The most common keyboard error is "teh" everyone can spell it yet everyone gets it wrong.
 
Yaser1987 said:
who knows might be after while you will say , oh he was right when he told me that ,



peace :p
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Oh dear god, I dont think I can actually comprehend what you are trying to say half the time. Check the sig as well. ;)
 
Its all ok though because eventually the government will get to the stage where the vast majority of people will be unable to spell and they will start to change the english language to reflect that. How can people expect to teach anyone english or help their children with it when they cannot differentiate between brought and bought.

The fact that anyone thinks that the two are some how similar boggles the mind. There are already some people who think that spelling is entirely dependent on your memory and that we should make everything purely phonetic. I have an absolutely shocking memory for most things and yet I can spell ok.

They say that it will increase literacy rates amoungst our children by doing this; I am not sure that moving the goal posts is tantamount to improvement. That is what everyone complains about with exams these days. If you make the targets easier to achieve then you are not improving you are merely dumbing down.
 
Fishfingers said:
Confusing and difficult go hand in hand when you are talking about language, English is littered with irregular verbs and nouns, the over-complication of the present tense (As other European languages tend to say 'I play, I watch' where as in English it extends to 'I am playing', I am watching'), the need to know many words that pertain to the same meaning (The word for sun, you also need to know the word solar means sun to understand the term solar cycle and solar-power), our vowel sounds are different in pronunciation to a lot of European languages, not to mention the amount of foreign words and phrases as well that have found there way into the English language over time such as 'comme si, comme ca' and 'Bereau de change'. This is to name but a few points of difficulty/confusion.

I agree with you that it is confusing, but I would say that confusion in language makes it difficult.
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I'm probably not the best person to gauge difficulty as I'm multilingual so grasp languages fairly quickly and easily.

The structure of the english language is quite logical though and although there are a lot of irregular verbs for example it's still relatively simple.

Just as an example, the verb "to go" in present tense is:

I go
You go
She/he goes
We go
You(pl) go
They go

In French:

Je vais
Tu vas
Il/Elle va
Nous allons
Vous allez
Ils/Elles vont

In the past tense:

I went
You went
She/he went
We went
You(pl) went
They went

In French (I'm using the imperfect tense as an example - there are 5 past tenses in French and other European languaes - as there are in English I'm sure but you can't tell the difference!).

J'allais
Tu allais
Il/Elle allai
Nous allions
Vous alliez
Ils/Ells allaient

To me that seems more complicated... but as I said I see it from a different perspective. Spanish is very similar but less complex than French - Greek is a nightmare. Arabic is a very simple structure, furthermore they don't have a verb "to be" which makes it even easier.

Verbs are one thing though, there is so much more to other languages like linking nouns and adjectives in the right tense and plurals and gender etc... Pre-nouns and infinatives are used with much more care and necessity.

I think confusing doesn't have to be linked to difficulty though...
 
Because they are spelt similar and also there is a small cross-over of their usage. You could say "I bought this DVD from the video shop and I brought this DVD from work" as in bring it home from work. they both suggest that you are acquiring something.
 
mame said:
Because they are spelt similar and also there is a small cross-over of their usage. You could say "I bought this DVD from the video shop and I brought this DVD from work" as in bring it home from work. they both suggest that you are acquiring something.
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No, it is because people are stupid.
 
fez said:
If you make the targets easier to achieve then you are not improving you are merely dumbing down.
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Just like the 18% (eighteen!) threshold to get a chemistry GCSE C grade that the Royal Society of Chemists uncovered recently. The examination body is ignoring the issue. How the hell 18% is a pass mark defies comprehension.
 
Freefaller said:
English isn't a difficult language at all. It's grammar is among some of the simplest in ther world. However, it is a confusing language in terms of it's grammar owing to the similar sounding words and conjugation of verbs.
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oh the ironing :p
 
Love the way people are making a genuine attempt to use correct grammar in this thread.

You're, you, too, to, it, it's, where, were etc

But most annoying of all and seen at least 50 times a day.

a lot

FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU

They are two separate words you thick ********
 
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