Got, have, have got

Question

Hi everyone!

This may seem kind of a silly question, but I'm a bit confused now about the word got.

Can you tell me if there are any differences in meaning between these three sentences?

You got to be there on time

You have to be there on time

You've got to be there on time

Any help is appreciated, thanks in advance!

People say, "you got to..." but it's poor English... more often heard, I gotta... you gotta... - katydew, Oct 23, 2011

Answer 1

Hi!

The first one I'm not sure is good English - I think this is street or lazy talk for 'you've got to be there'.

The second and third are correct English and are very similar in meaning. Perhaps 'You have got to be there' implies more of a command or real obligation for you to be there. Whereas, "you have to be there" could imply a milder desire or wish for you to be there.

Disclaimer, the above is my interpretation, but I'm not a grammarian lol

best answer. x_x - AllisonMyeisha, Oct 12, 2011

Perfect, Billy. How would you say "conseguiste llegar a tiempo" or "¡has conseguido llegar a tiempo!" ? - cogumela, Oct 12, 2011

ol, now you know my perfect tenses aren't good ;-)..... You got to arrive on time. or You have to arrive on time! - billygoat, Oct 12, 2011

Your perfect tenses are not a problem :) but you are using got in a completely different way now! English is a nightmare! :D - cogumela, Oct 12, 2011

Thank you very much, Billy! :) - cogumela, Oct 12, 2011

Cogu ignore my Spanish, that was just a bit of a guess lol. Right I know what our next chat will be about :-) - billygoat, Oct 12, 2011

Answer 2

Got to be there

¡Hola Cogu!

En esta canción, se puede decir igualmente "I must be there", "I've got to be there", "I have to be there".

¡Qué pesadilla de idioma, el inglés!

Además estoy con Samdie, en otras ocasiones, por ejemplo "I'm pleased I got to be there", está referiendo a una situación en el pasado en la que lograste estar en un lugar de acuerdo con tus deseos.

¡Que tengas un buen día!

Acabo de notar la fecha de este hilo . :P - galsally, Oct 23, 2011

¡Hola cielo! Me alegro mucho de verte :) - cogumela, Oct 23, 2011

Mis dudas no caducan, así que no te preocupes. Siempre es un placer recibir tus comentarios :) - cogumela, Oct 23, 2011

Answer 3

Hi Cogu

You have picked on one of the worst words to explain in English, ie "get" and as you say, in the past "got".

My Collins dictionary has Five A4 size pages with each page containing three columns. Each column contains about forty examples of how to use "get". That's about 600 examples in total and these are all in the present.

It's the omnipresent word :) - cogumela, Oct 12, 2011

To be sure, to be sure. - Eddy, Oct 13, 2011

Answer 4

Hola cogu, you got to be here, esto es lo mismo que you've got to ...es bastante común no decir o poner "have" en algunos casos.

I got to go..sin ir más lejos, debería ser: I've got to go

Claro. Eso me confundió. Es que como es lo mismo que el pasado de "get"... Mil gracias, Heidi :) - cogumela, Oct 12, 2011

Answer 5

The only real difference between "have" and "have got" is when they are used in questions and negatives..

Questions.

"Do you have a dog?" - is good. "Have you got a dog?" .- is good.

but

"Do you have got a dog?" is not good.

Negatives.

"No, I don't have a dog." - is good.

but

"No, I don't have got a dog." - is not good.

Very interesting explanation, Ian. But this is really complicated to use for me. Is "No, I haven't got a dog" correct? - cogumela, Oct 14, 2011

yes it is correct Laura. - ian-hill, Oct 14, 2011

Answer 6

, Cogumela:

I suggest that you may use "have" by itself or "have got" as an idiom having the same meaning. However, your first example where you use "got" alone is not practiced or done. For these reasons, your 2nd and 3rd examples are acceptable while I would reject your 1st example.

Here is an article I found on this subject ----> Is "Have Got" acceptable grammar.

Saludos/Regards y buenos nachos buenas noches
Moe

Hi, Moe! Thanks a lot. It seems to be full agreement in your answers :) - cogumela, Oct 12, 2011

Hey, very nice article, Moe :) - cogumela, Oct 12, 2011

Answer 7

Marianne said

You got to be there on time (maybe in England, but sounds incomplete to me)

Maybe in England but only by peolple who know no better.

You have to be there on time

You've got to be there on time

These two are okay.

;) Thanks, Eddy! - cogumela, Oct 12, 2011

Answer 8

You got to be there on time (maybe in England, but sounds incomplete to me)

You have to be there on time (perfect)

You've got to be there on time (perfect)

Thank you, Marianne! :) - cogumela, Oct 12, 2011

Answer 9

You got to be there on time

Just to muddy the waters ... There are meanings/usages that everyone seems to have overlooked/ignored. i.e. "managed" / "was able" For example: "I'm glad I got to be there in time for the wedding/funeral/etc." This use is not restricted to the past tense (e.g. "I hope I'll get to see you before you leave.")

These uses of get/got are somewhat informal (casual speech) and there are, of course, fancier ways to express the ideas but they are, by no means, "vulgar"/uneducated usage.

You are going direct to the point here, because this was my original thought. I thought "you got to be there on time" meant "You managed to be there on time". - cogumela, Oct 14, 2011

I was even thinking whether "You have got to be there on time" could also mean: you have managed to be there on time. - cogumela, Oct 14, 2011

Given that no one has even thought about this use, I guess it's only a matter of context, habit and common sense for you, native speakers. But, for me, it's still something difficult to get :) - cogumela, Oct 14, 2011

"You have got to be there on time" = You are obligated to be there on time. or You must be there on time. - ian-hill, Oct 14, 2011