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Which is right:

  1. They would’ve got away with it.
  2. They would’ve gotten away with it.

I am interested in what we would say in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, not in the United States of America.

tchrist
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whichone
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  • Unless we're copying Americans, BrE speakers wouldn't use *gotten* at all (I know careful AmE speakers distinguish the two, but I forget exactly how). – FumbleFingers Dec 14 '14 at 16:53
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    @FumbleFingers: I was about to comment that this is a case where Americans can use either *got* or *gotten, but this may be my age showing. Ngrams shows that the distinction between got* and *gotten* is sharpening in this case, and the clear preference today in this phrase is for *gotten*. – Peter Shor Dec 14 '14 at 17:00
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    @FumbleFingers Except, as tchrist points out on another post, in the case of ill-gotten gains. – WS2 Dec 14 '14 at 17:03
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    Either phrase would likely lead me to mentally add ".. if it wasn't for those meddling kids" – Martin Smith Dec 14 '14 at 17:04
  • @Peter: I thought it was you that commented some while ago about a usage distinction based on whether *got* related to actual "possession" (so you wouldn't have gotten scared by something - I don't know). – FumbleFingers Dec 14 '14 at 17:08
  • @WS2: Considering it's my fourth most popular answer here on ELU, I really should have remembered that! :) – FumbleFingers Dec 14 '14 at 17:12
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    @FumbleFingers: that's right, "have got" means possession, and "have gotten" is used everywhere else. I had thought there were some cases where Americans could use either one, but looking at Ngrams, I think I'm wrong ... some Americans are still using got for the past participle in all cases, but the number is steadily going down. – Peter Shor Dec 14 '14 at 17:12
  • @Peter: So in fact you could have *gotten* scared if I'd *got* a pitchfork and brandished it in your face threateningly? – FumbleFingers Dec 14 '14 at 17:14
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    @FumbleFingers: right. – Peter Shor Dec 14 '14 at 17:14
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    Any one else immediately think of Scooby-Doo? – Minnow Dec 14 '14 at 18:39
  • FF says 'Unless we're copying Americans, BrE speakers wouldn't use gotten at all'. But there's no law forbidding people ('we'!?) in the UK from doing precisely that. They (/'we') don't get arrested. This whole 'BrE' v 'AmE' analysis masks the true picture. A lot of (yes, I have to call them something) Americanisms are creeping into occasional or even common use in the UK, especially via the media, and such usages must not be termed incorrect. – Edwin Ashworth Dec 14 '14 at 22:14
  • Ireland I would say 'would have got' would take first prize. – Alan B Nov 26 '19 at 16:54

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