I can't work out in my head if this is grammatically correct. Got is obviously the past tense of get, but in the past perfect here, does it have a second meaning? Or is this simply slang for emphasis? We had an impromptu lesson on "I have to" vs. "I got to" on our way to church last night and the boys kept citing examples of got being used in this way. I told them I thought it was incorrect, but began to doubt myself. :roll:
I remember being told years ago that 'got' is very much an Anglo-Saxon term, whatever that means. It's largely superfluous, because we can use "I have to" rather than "I've got to", but it's become way too prevalent in popular speech to get rid of it now. Personally, I just ignore it as a turn of phrase - rather like "first and foremost". As for "gotten"....
I don't personally use "got" unless it is for emphasis. Once you know the rules, you are allowed to break them. Here is a link I found interesting. http://www-personal.umich.edu/~jlawler/aue/gotten.html (can someone teach me how to link to a word in my text, please?! :lol: )
I tried to explain myself but couldn't! LOL I do not know if this is what you are talking about but try this link. Teachers taught me, and again I am probably wording myself wrong, that got is to get something and have is to possess something. http://www.mit.edu/course/21/21.guide/get-got.htm
You're right, Amie. "Got" should mean "obtained" (he got the ball), not "became" (he got sick), or "must" (he's got to do it). It also means obtained a privilege, as in "we got to go on the trip after all." Even when we meant "obtained" as in "I got the pencil from the desk", she preferred "I picked up (or took) the pencil from the desk." I had a professor in college freshman English who was a real stickler about this and "just" (which she insisted is only used as an adjective referring to justice as in "he is a just man" and not in reference to time as "we just now finished" or to mean "only" as in "he's just a man").
Highlight the word you want to link, then hit the little button that looks like a globe with two ovals stuck together (those are actually chain links). That will open a pop up (so make sure your pop up blocker doesn't ruin it) and you put the url in there. *poof* Linked.
