IMPORTANT VERBS: TO BUY (I) (English entry)

Introduction

In this post we are going to speak about the verb to buy. It is an irregular verb, and that means that the past and the participle don't end in -ed. The past and the participle of this verb is bought.

Present
I buy bread every day.
He buys bread every day.

Past
You bought bread yesterday

Participle
Lately they have bought bread at the supermarket

Meanings

To buy means comprar. But it can also have another meanings, such as tragarse/creerse una excusa. For instance, in the sentence She gave me some excuse about why he didn't went to the concert, but I didn't buy it what we mean is that we don't believe what she told us. Another example on this way. I can't believe he bought into all that rubbish. Another meaning of buy can be invitar. One example could be the following sentence, Let me buy you a drink.

Synonyms

There are several verbs which are synonymous of this verb. For instance, to get, to purchase, to acquire, to pick up or to snap up. But there are differences between them.

To get has the same meaning as the verb to buy. But to get is more colloquial. Examples:

Where did you get that shirt from?
I got it at the summer sales.

To purchase is more formal and it implies a lot of money.

I purchased a house last week.
I purchased a new yatch two years ago.

To acquire isn't used so much. It has to do with investments or with the acquisition of rights.

I acquired the rights to fish in the lake.
I believe that Members only acquire legitimacy through election.

To pick up, which also means recoger, can be used with the meaning of comprar, when dealing with bargains.

He picked up those trousers up in the sales.
I picked up that car at a reasonable price.

To snap up is very similar to pick up. We usually to snap up when it has to do with an opportunity you cannot afford to miss. It can also imply that there are few units left

There was only one left. I just had to snap them up!
I'd snap up as many as you can before they run out of stock.





Exercises



Translate into English the following sentences. Remember that you must use the verb TO BUY.

1. Me compré un sombrero.
2. Vamos a comprar una casa.
3. El dinero no hace la felicidad.
4. Paró para comprar jabón.
5. ¿Cuántos libros compró ella?
6. Déjame invitarte a un café.
7. Ella compró cuatro camisetas porque eran baratas.
8. No van a tragarse tu excusa.
9. Compraría 4 coches si tuviese dinero.
10. Yo que tú, no me hubiese comprado ese coche