Participle: got VS gotten

Question

Talking about the participle I wonder if "gotten" is British and "got" is American... Thanks for answering.

The other way around if anything, although I was always taught that just 'I have' is sufficient and proper, although I must admit that from time to time I do say 'I've got' - Kiwi-Girl, Jan 16, 2013

When you start playing baseball in Little League, and you're taught to "call the ball" to avoid colliding with a teammate, you yell "I Mine, mine, I got it". Can't get more American than that. - PeterRS, Jan 16, 2013

Yes; the other way around. “Gotten” is the past participle of “get” in American English. “Got” is the past participle of “get” in British English. - brian5764, Jan 16, 2013

Answer 1

I am from the US and I use "gotten" as the past participle of "to get":

I have gotten sick twice this summer.

He had not yet gotten the card last time I talked to him.

To my ears, using "got" in the above situations sounds wrong.

"Got", at least where I live, is used only for the past tense:

He got a new car yesterday.

We got some flowers for after the performance.

One other use for "got", which is idiomatic and not necessarily "good grammar" is using it to mean "have" or "possess" as in:

I have not got (I do not have) any money on me right now.

She's got (She has) so many pretty dresses! I'm jealous of her.

Thank you very much! - maestroantonio, Jan 16, 2013

But what about. I have got three dollars in my pocket. - gringojrf, Jan 16, 2013

i never think about grammar in English. I agree with your explanation. Thanks. - gringojrf, Jan 16, 2013

I like your explanation. :) - GraceM, Jan 16, 2013

Answer 2

I always thought it was an American invention but .............

I found this:

Just seeing the word is enough to set the hair of some British English speakers on end. Yet, despite the many claims that it is an Americanism, it is most definitely of British origin and the Oxford English Dictionary traces its first use to the 4th century.

PS. "I have got" and "I have" are really the same thing.

Except in Questions: - "Do you have got a car?" is not correct.

and negatives: - "I don't have got a car" is not correct.

But you could say "Have you got a car?" - PumpkinCalabaza, Jan 16, 2013

And "I haven't/have not got a car." - PumpkinCalabaza, Jan 16, 2013

Good answer!!! - PumpkinCalabaza, Jan 16, 2013

yes, to me, it sounds, just very oldfashioded. But forgotten works well, from the same stem, clearly. - annierats, Jan 17, 2013

Ray has a briliant article, showing that Englsish is really a Scandinavian language.. - annierats, Jan 17, 2013

Well many words in Britain are from Scandinavia of course. - ian-hill, Jan 17, 2013

Charles Dickens was able to communicate / understand people in East Denmark without he or them speaking the other's language. - ian-hill, Jan 17, 2013

Answer 3

I'm still not clear on what "mood" is which, but in America we might say:

"The first time I ever saw my wife was at a hospital. She had gotten bit by a snake, and I had gotten stung by a bee".

I know one could also say "She had been bitten... and I had been stung" and that might be proper, but the other usage has been so common for so long that it has gotten at least a superficial appearence of being right.

U make me feel ill. Like scrapingon ablackboard.. - annierats, Jan 17, 2013

Answer 4

Wholeheartedly agree with padrin, except for the comment British English.

"Got", English

"Gotten", a foreign language, sorry chaps, American English, hehe.

Ys, it sounds awful. Although< icanimagine it in the Norse times, being frequent, in Britain. - annierats, Jan 17, 2013

Answer 5

In British English, there is no such word as "gotten"; the past participle is "got". In American English "gotten" is common, and just to mix things up a bit, the influence of American films has resulted in younger people on this side of the pond using "gotten"