Verb
(third-person singular simple present has got, present participle having got, simple past and past participle had got)
- (modal, idiomatic, with infinitive) To be obliged or obligated.
- I've got to do my homework.
- (modal, with infinitive) Used to express necessity or a high degree of certainty
- It has got to be true, it's a syllogism.
- My luck has got to change.
- (idiomatic, chiefly UK) To have, own or possess.
- I've got a house in the country.
- She's got three children. One boy and two girls.
- (idiomatic) To have (a future engagement).
- I can't stay, I've got school tomorrow morning.
Usage notes
- Have got is not normally used in the simple past tense (had got); it is not considered correct to say *"Last year we had got a house in the city." Rather, had alone is used as the simple past. Had got is normally heard as an even more colloquial version of have got.
- The have in have got is almost always contracted (e.g. I've got, he's got, John's got). In the sense of to be obliged, the have is sometimes not contracted when got or the subject is stressed in the sentence ("I have got to go there." and "I've got to go there." are both common but "I've got to go there." is almost exclusively preferred in spoken English over "I have got to go there."). The uncontracted form is considered to be formal English.
- While have got and variants are common colloquial usage, in most cases the got is redundant and can be removed without changing the meaning of the sentence. Where got is part of a colloquial phrase following the has or have, then got should be retained. Example: "She has got under my skin".
Origin
From one perfect aspect of get.
