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Yeah, some of them always got the nicest cars.

Is this correct? “Got” doesn’t sound right to me, I would’ve said they have the nicest cars but does the above sentence still have correct grammar?

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  • This will be closed since right/wrong answers are not usually acceptable. But bear this in mind: English has two forms for have in the present simple: have and have got. Just using "got" is either non-standard for have or can mean "buy". But given the "Yeah", this is most likely non-standard for have got or have. Please go read the Help section. Top right under the three-bars icon.
    – Lambie
    Commented Jan 26 at 17:27
  • Got is correct here if it is used in the sense of acquired.
    – Tinfoil Hat
    Commented Jan 26 at 17:38
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    That sentence is perfectly idiomatic but very colloquial American English. One step in the direction of formality, but still colloquial, would be They've got nice cars and yet another step towards formal, but still in neutral register, would be They have nice cars. It is also possible to understand the sentence as a statement about the past, where "got" means "acquired".
    – TimR
    Commented Jan 26 at 18:39
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    If meant for 'Yes, some of them always have the nicest cars', it's quite possibly AAVE.
    – Edwin Ashworth
    Commented Jan 26 at 19:48
  • Got can mean: bought, purchased, acquired and received to name a few. However, I repeat the presence of "yeah" points to the non-standard got for have/have got. It is idiomatic but non-standard and mostly unschooled. It is not AAVE per se. It's any American uneducated dialect.
    – Lambie
    Commented Jan 26 at 20:01

1 Answer 1

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  1. Yeah, they always got nice cars. [past tense of have got/ have, non-standard]

  2. They always got nice cars. [could also be: bought or acquired or received, past tense of have got/get]

  3. They've always got nice cars. [in their garage, for example]

  4. They always have nice cars. [in their garage or whatever] 3) and 4) mean the same thing and are standard.

Unless got in 1) means something other than have/have got, like bought or received, it would be standard American English. The only discourse level indicator is the "yeah". So, I'm reading it as have got/have, and therefore non-standard. But it can be read otherwise, as received or bought.

*Yeah, he got some nice shoes at the mall. [bought, standard]

The question forms for that non-standard form would be:
*Do you got a nice car? [for have/have got]
*Don't you got a nice car [for have/have got?

*Did you get a nice car? [standard, buy]

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