Someone asks when you got your new phone. The answer is simple, but the verb is tricky: it isn’t “buyed”, it’s bought, and the time phrase has no preposition.
The phrase: I bought this phone last month
The structure is subject + bought + object + time phrase. This is the Past Simple: the action is finished, and we name the moment it happened.
- I bought this phone last month.A completed purchase at a specific time in the past.
- She bought a new laptop last week.The same pattern with a different time phrase.
- We bought these tickets two days ago.“Ago” counts back from now.
Ukrainian changes the verb for gender: «купила» and «купив» are different. English doesn’t: I bought, she bought, we bought all use the same form.
buy – bought – bought: an irregular verb
Most verbs add -ed in the past, but buy doesn’t. Its three forms are buy – bought – bought, so “buyed” is never correct. It belongs to a small group of verbs ending in -ought:
- bring — brought
- think — thought
- catch — caught
- teach — taught
For the full list of irregular verbs, see our irregular verbs table.
“Last month”: no “in” or “at”
Words like last, next, this and every go straight before the time phrase: last week, next year, this morning, every day. So it’s last month, not “in last month”. Use in with months and years on their own: in May, in 2019.
Don’t mix it up with Present Perfect
“I have bought this phone last month” is wrong: Present Perfect doesn’t go with a finished time phrase. If you still have the phone and want to talk about how long you’ve had it, use Present Perfect with since:
- I bought this phone last month.The purchase is a finished event.
- I’ve had this phone since last month.You got it last month and still have it now.
Negatives and questions use did: I didn’t buy this phone last month. When did you buy this phone? For the full rules, see our post on Past Simple negatives and questions.
Check yourself
Say it in English, then reveal the answer:
1.You bought this bag yesterday. Say so.
Answer
I bought this bag yesterday.
2.Say that you didn’t buy a laptop last week.
Answer
I didn’t buy a laptop last week.
3.Ask a friend when they bought their bike.
Answer
When did you buy your bike?
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