Past Tense of Bring
“Bring” follows the pattern bring → brought → brought. The same inflected form serves a finite simple-past clause and a past-participle construction; surrounding grammar identifies the role. The reviewed standard paradigm is bring → brought → brought; avoid unsupported claims about every dialectal or nonstandard form.
The simple past and past participle of “bring” are both “brought.”
Key details
Choose the right form
| Meaning / situation | Form / construction | Decision |
|---|---|---|
| completed action in simple past | brought | Use “brought.” |
| past participle after have/has/had | brought | Use “brought.” |
| present/base-form context | bring | Use “bring” when a past form is not required. |
Quick tests
Verb-form test
Do you need the simple past or past participle of “bring”?
If yes: Use “brought.”
If no: Use “bring” or the appropriate present form when the sentence is not past.
Caveat: Both simple past and past participle are “brought.” The reviewed standard paradigm is bring → brought → brought; avoid unsupported claims about every dialectal or nonstandard form.
Examples
She brought the signed contract yesterday.
“Brought” is the simple past of “bring.”
They had brought enough water for everyone.
“Brought” is the past participle after “had.”
I bring my notebook to every meeting.
The present form is “bring.”
Further guidance
Core difference
Use “brought” for both the simple past and the past participle.
Fast Test
If the sentence needs a past form or participle, choose “brought”; use “bring” or the appropriate present form in present-time contexts.
Usage Boundary
Both simple past and past participle are “brought.” The reviewed standard paradigm is bring → brought → brought; avoid unsupported claims about every dialectal or nonstandard form.
Sources and evidence
Sources are shown with the role they play in this guide. Historical or style-sensitive claims are kept within the evidence boundary described above.
- BRING Definition & Meaning - Merriam-Webster (opens in a new tab)Merriam-Webster · Merriam-Webster records brought as the inflected past form of bring.
- BRING | meaning - Cambridge Learner’s Dictionary (opens in a new tab)Cambridge University Press · Cambridge records brought as both the past tense and past participle of bring.