3 ways to use HAVE GOT in English

Hey, guys. I'm Alex. Thanks for clicking, and welcome to this lesson on "have got".

So, in English, any time you have the verb: "get" in a lesson, you know you're in for

a bit of a ride because there are so many different ways to use "get" in English.

Today, we're looking at "get" when combined with the verb "have". So let's look at a number

of ways we can use "have got" in English.

First of all, just so you know, "have got" can be used as an emphatic form of "have to"

which we already use for obligation. So, the full expression is actually: "Have got to"

which is the same meaning as: "Have to", but it sounds a little more emphatic; it gives

you a little more emphasis, a little more punch. So you could say: "I have to see that

movie. Like, oh my goodness, I have to." It's almost an obligation. If you want to make

it sound stronger, you can say: "I have got to... I've got to see that movie." And you

can see here the construction is: "Have got to" and you always follow it with a base verb.

Okay? So it's not: "I have got to seeing". "I've got to see", "I've got to make", "I've

got to do", "I've got to play". Okay? So, instead of just saying: "Have to" for obligation,

you can also use: "Have got to" which just makes it stronger.

Now, the thing about "have got to" is that there are no past or future forms for this.

You cannot say: "I had got to see that movie." You cannot say: "I will have got to see that

movie." You can only say, in the present: "I have got to". If you want to speak about

obligation in the past, you can simply use: "Had to". Okay? So you can say: "I had to

call my mom.", "I had to leave early." Not: "I had got to leave early" which doesn't make

sense grammatically. Same with "will" or "going to" for the future, you can say: "You will

have to do something." Not: "You will have got to." It sounds way too full in a native

speaker's mouth. Sorry for that sentence; I don't know why I said that.

Now, there's also really no negative form of: "Have got to". You can't say: "I don't

have got to call my mother today." You can say: "I don't have to". However, in slang,

in speaking, we do say: "Don't gotta". So: "You don't gotta do that!" Which basically

means: "You don't have to." So, again, the correct form is, you know: "You don't" - don't?

- "You don't have to do that." If you want to sound a little bit more I guess cool or

hip, you can say: "I don't gotta", "She doesn't gotta", "We don't gotta", which just means:

"We don't have to", "I don't have to", "She doesn't have to". Okay? It's not an obligation.

Number two. "Have got" is also another form of the possessive: "have". So you could say,

you know: "She has a big family.", "She has a big family." However, you can also say:

"She has got a big family." Which has the exact same meaning. Okay? So you can say,

you know: "I have a computer." Or: "I have got a computer.", "I've got a smartphone.",

"I've got a nice camera.", "I've got", whatever it is you possess. Okay?

Now, finally, "have got", or: "had got", or: "will have got". Well, first of all, those

are the American forms because "got" is, you know, not really correctly formed in the American

English. They use the term: "got". The past participle is actually: "gotten". Getting

back to this though. You can use: "Have gotten" or "have got", "had gotten" or "had got",

"will have got", "will have gotten" in the present, past, and future perfect grammar

forms. So in this situation, it often means to get or to receive something.

Let's look at the example sentence and I think it will be clearer for you guys. So here,

we have: "I had got a bad grade."

Which means, number one: "I had got", very American, "I had got a bad grade." The British

form is: "gotten", "I had gotten a bad grade." Which just means I had received a bad grade.

Okay? On my test. And, again, you can do this with present perfect: "I have gotten a bad

grade.", "I have received", and you can also use it with the future perfect forms as well.

Clear? Yeah? Have you got it? Okay.

If you want to test your understanding of the various ways to use "have got", you can

check out the quiz on www.engvid.com as always. And please, don't forget: subscribe to my

YouTube channel, and I'll see you guys next time. Take care.