When I encountered him I didn’t care to take a picture until the next day when I got/was given another chance and he was [...]
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2If by "correct" you mean "grammatical and idiomatic", neither is "incorrect", and both are "correct". The first is in the active voice, and the second in the passive. Two different verbs are used; got is the past tense of the verb to get, and given is the past participle of the verb to give.– P. E. Dant Reinstate MonicaCommented Oct 6, 2016 at 8:27
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Also, "I was given" is more formal than "I got".– John FeltzCommented Oct 6, 2016 at 11:50
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You could also say things like I received/obtained/acquired. Those are all active and non-colloquial.– shawnt00Commented Oct 6, 2016 at 15:18
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4 Answers
I got a gift from my mother
I was given a gift by my mother.
This is much the same in English as in other languages. They give something to you; you receive something from them. Both describe more or less the same action, you just swap the subject and object of the sentence.
In this case there is a difference in nuance between "got the chance" and "was given the chance". "Got" can mean "received" but it can also imply simple opportunity, as in "I saw him on the street and took his picture (with or without his consent)". "Was given" strongly implies consent (although in some contexts it can refer to "divine providence", i.e. "God gave me the opportunity").
So if you want to be clear that he agreed to have his picture taken, you would use "was given". If you actually took the picture without consent you would say "got". If this isn't important, either will do.
I’m no English language expert, but when I hear, “we got given a new dog,” it sounds so incredibly ignorant. “We were given a new dog” sounds correct to me, or “we received a new dog.” I live in California now, coming from Onlahoma for 30 years, and I’ve heard TONS of people use the term “we got given xyz” and it’s like nails on a chalkboard to me! Maybe it’s a coloqial thing.
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2Hello Ross. Please have a look at the tour. The question here is slightly different from the one you have answered: It is whether "I got a dog" or "I was given a dog" is the correct form. This doesn't really answer the question. Also, check for typos when writing an answer, and it is usually better to avoid figurative speech that can confuse a learner. If you take a look at the list of newest questions I'm sure you'll find some you can answer.– James KCommented Jul 12, 2018 at 5:38
Got is not a word, it's not a proper past tense of get. In your sentence above I would revise as ..."when I had another chance..." but "was given" is also an acceptable alternative.
I think the confusion here is the structure: get + past participle. Since get expresses some action, so the action verbs are used for the past participle. So from this perspective, got given is a perfectly fine passive form. For example, The package got delivered last week; my friend got married, etc. Actually, this structure is more specific than be + past participle in the sense that it offers more clarity as it only works for the action verbs.
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1"Tired" is an adjective, not a past participle verb. Nobody "tired" you last week, and probably the same with "married". In both cases, "get" is used in the sense of "become", rather than "have something happen to". Better examples are "got rewarded" or "got fired", which clearly have verbal meanings.– gotube ♦Commented Dec 12, 2022 at 4:05
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Agree with tired, my mistake. At the same time stand by "got married": Who is going to marry us - a perfectly resonable action verb use here.– nyirockCommented Dec 12, 2022 at 6:21
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Disagree. When someone says, "We got married", it means, "We became a married couple", not "Somebody joined us in marriage".– gotube ♦Commented Dec 12, 2022 at 17:00