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I have been asked about the difference between

Have got
Have got to

Are they considered as present perfect forms?

KillingTime
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Amany
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  • Interesting. At least among many Brits, I've got is often a paraphrase for the stative I have in my possession (etc, as in I've got a bike / a new boat / ten minutes to spare / measles ...). When used in the I have obtained (etc, as in I've got this splinter out of my finger at last, where many in the US would prefer 'gotten') sense, it feels like more of a true present perfect. 'I have V-d' in the present perfect usually corresponds loosely to 'I did V'. // I have got to is almost certainly best seen as an idiom (irregular syntax), and best left intact. 'I must.' – Edwin Ashworth Oct 22 '20 at 10:31
  • @Ameny: Please give a couple of sentences to demonstrate your examples. – Greybeard Oct 22 '20 at 10:45
  • @EdwinAshworth Don't you think that the "I've got this splinter out of my finger" usage is more like "I have achieved my aim of" rather than "I have obtained"? I think that "I have got (obtained) my ticket for the train up Snowdon" and "I have got (achieved my aim of reaching) [to] the top of Snowdon" are two different usages for the same word. The splinter sentence is more like "I have got (achieved my aim of extracting) the splinter [out of]¦[from] my finger". I don't think that "I have obtained the splinter out of my finger" works at all. – BoldBen Oct 22 '20 at 11:25
  • @BoldBen Hence the etc; I didn't have space (or time) for three say examples. Space is limited in 'comments', but this question is too basic / overscoped if only asking for 'have got ...' examples, and I haven't got a reference to back my 'consider have got to a lexeme' opinion (though I seem to remember John Lawler addressing this before). hence no 'answer'. – Edwin Ashworth Oct 22 '20 at 15:17
  • Yes, I posted regarding the present tense perfect construction form have got(ten) and the periphrastic modal construction have (got) to. – John Lawler Oct 22 '20 at 17:28

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