Taught, Caught, Brought: The -ought and -aught Verbs
Quick Answer
A small family replaces its whole ending with -ought or -aught: teach → taught, catch → caught, bring → brought. The past and the have form are identical, which makes them easier than they look.
See the Pattern First
The verb transforms completely — then stays put.
- I teach English. I taught it yesterday. I have taught for years.
- She catches the ball. She caught it. She has caught every one.
- They bring food. They brought some. They have brought plenty.
- We seek answers. We sought them. We have sought them for months.
Notice the good news: columns two and three are the same word. Unlike take/took/taken, there is no third form to remember.
The Full List
All of them are pronounced with the same “awt” sound.
| Verb | Past | With have/has/had |
|---|---|---|
| bring | brought | brought |
| buy | bought | bought |
| catch | caught | caught |
| fight | fought | fought |
| seek | sought | sought |
| teach | taught | taught |
| think | thought | thought |
Why the Word Changes So Much
These verbs kept an ending from Old English that has since disappeared everywhere else. The -ght spelling once represented a rough sound at the back of the throat, similar to the “ch” in the Scottish word loch.
English lost the sound but kept the spelling. That is why -ough and -augh look so strange today: you are reading a fossil of a sound nobody makes any more.
Past and have-form are the same word.
The Lookalike Trap
Two pairs sound close but behave completely differently:
- bring → brought, but sing → sang. Same -ing ending, different families.
- catch → caught, but watch → watched. Same -tch ending, and watch is completely regular.
Endings do not predict families. Only the list does — and this list is only seven verbs long.
Mistakes Learners Make (You Are Not Alone)
The usual error is applying the regular -ed rule:
- ✗ she teached me → ✓ she taught me
- ✗ I catched the bus → ✓ I caught the bus
- ✗ he bringed a gift → ✓ he brought a gift
“Teached” and “catched” are among the first mistakes every learner makes — and children learning English make them too. They disappear with exposure.
Your Turn — Quick Quiz
Five questions. Take your time — the table above is still there if you need it.
1. 1. My mother ____ me how to cook.
2. 2. He ____ the ball with one hand.
3. 3. They have ____ presents for everyone.
4. 4. In this family, the past tense and the have-form are:
5. 5. What is the past tense of “seek”?
Keep Going
Seven verbs, one strange spelling, and no third form to learn.
A related group does something gentler: the ending simply hardens into a -t. Build becomes built. Sleep becomes slept. Can you hear why?
Next lesson: Built, slept, lost: verbs whose past ends in -t
Sources
I’m Khamis Maiouf. English is not my first language – I learned it as an adult in the UK, passed Functional Skills Level 2 in English, qualified in Hairdressing at Level 3, and I’m now studying Business at university. For over five years I’ve taught ESOL classes in my community and tutored students through GCSE English. I write every lesson on this site myself, for the learner I used to be.
