Brought is the past tense of the verb “bring,” which means to carry or take something (or someone) to a place. When you bring your lunch to school today, yesterday you brought it. When your friend brings cookies to share, tomorrow you'll say she brought cookies.

The word describes completed actions of carrying or conveying things from one place to another. Your parents brought you home from the hospital when you were born. Explorers brought back treasures and stories from distant lands. A student who forgot their homework might explain, “I finished it but I didn't bring it to class,” meaning they left it somewhere else.

Brought can also mean to cause something to happen. A coach might have brought out the best in their team through encouragement. A funny joke brought laughter to the room. Bad weather brought the picnic to an early end.

People often confuse brought with “bought” (the past tense of “buy”), but they're completely different: you bought something when you paid money for it, but you brought something when you carried or took it with you.