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I would like to properly use the verb get in the following sentence:

"You've ___ bigger since the last time I saw you, Bobby."

Should the past tense got be used or the past participle gotten?

I know it should be conjugated according to 'You have' (present).

J.R.
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aitía
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2 Answers2

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Here's a quick way to remember:

Have got = Have

Have gotten = Got it since the start and still got it until now or just lost it by now

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hbtpoprock
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    Grown and become are good alternatives. Gotten is grammatically ok; but it's good to find other words when possible, because got is too easy and overworked. The idea that have got=have practically proves not to use have got. Why add a word unnecessarily? – Les Tivers Oct 12 '18 at 09:56
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    I mean you can replace “have got” with “have” or the other way around. “I’ve got to go” equals ”I have to go”, with this you can separate the meanings between present and present perfect tense more easily. And if the OP saw it, they would knew the word ”get” isn't so suitable for the sentence. – hbtpoprock Oct 14 '18 at 12:47
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Both are actually correct.

You've got

might be considered somewhat outdated by purists, whilst

You've gotten

might be viewed as overly snobbish and high-brow by the poorly educated.

Ricky
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  • Thank you for your response, do you suggest gotten would be more current? – aitía Oct 11 '18 at 20:59
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    Not in British English! Gotten is rarely used. – JeremyC Oct 11 '18 at 21:57
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    @JeremyC It is now, but it used to be part of English dialect. I know a folk song about a Sheffield cutler whose wife is giving him a hard time one line of which runs "Sithee look what stays I've gotten, sithee what a pair of shoes" and it needs 'gotten' to fit the tune! – BoldBen Oct 12 '18 at 01:10
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    @BoldBen Yes, it is famously a word which has died out in BrE but survived in AmE. – Kate Bunting Oct 12 '18 at 08:30
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    @KateBunting Yes, and to me it always sounds a bit 'yokelish'. I'm never surprised to hear it from a hillbilly or cowboy character in a movie but I always find it odd coming from an academic or senior politician. – BoldBen Oct 13 '18 at 08:31
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    @BoldBen: And yet "begotten" and "forgotten" are somehow okay in both versions of the language and neither is associated with hillbillies. – Ricky Oct 13 '18 at 15:40
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    @Ricky Yes, strange isn't it. I'd like to know whether it's just me or whether other BrE speakers have the same response. – BoldBen Oct 14 '18 at 22:35
  • Actually, in American English, got and gotten are used in different situations. It's not a case of one being more high-brow than the other. Most of us don't say I haven't gotten my wallet with me or You've got bigger since the last time I saw you. Those should be got and gotten, respectively. (You've got bigger might sound high-brow because it's used by people from the U.K.) – Peter Shor Nov 01 '18 at 12:05
  • @PeterShor: A great deal depends on one's stratum, actually, on both sides of the pond. Lumping everybody together can only confuse some folks. That said, in your first example, "haven't got," or, in certain strata, "ain't got" stands for "don't have," which makes "got" ... uh ... I don't know ... a whole separate word? "Got" in the sense of "have" has no other ... uh ... forms? ... There's neither "gotten" nor "get," for that matter? ... Hmm ... – Ricky Nov 01 '18 at 17:52
  • @PeterShor: Here's one for the fans of obscure quotes: "GEORGE. I’ve gotten the ice, Martha. MARTHA. It’s ‘I’ve GOT the ice, George. GEORGE. No, I’ve gotten the ice is perfectly correct. It’s just a little archaic. Like you, Martha." – Ricky Nov 01 '18 at 17:52