English for Today by Ganiu Abisoye Bamgbose (Dr GAB)
I HAVE GOT or I HAVE GOTTEN?
Making a choice between these two structures is about the variety of English preferred; British or American.
- Br. English uses “got” as the past tense and past participle of get: I got it about an hour ago. I’ve got it since yesterday.
Am. English uses “gotten”, especially in spoken language: I’ve gotten it since yesterday. - Br. English favours the us of “has”, “have” and “had” in the company of another verb while Am. English uses them alone as main verbs:
He has got a big apartment in Lekki (Br. Eng.).
He has a big apartment in Lekki (Am. Eng.). - Br. English prefers the irregular past form of verbs while Am. English uses the regular forms:
The room was well lit (Br. Eng.).
The room was well lighted (Am. Eng.).
I learnt English at age 6 (Br. Eng.).
I learned English at age 6 (Am. Eng.)
GAB
