Get = Gain possession of something
Have = To possess something
Can Get mean Have sometimes? "I can't go the cinema, I got/have got no money at all."
I see sentences like this a lot and I wonder about it.
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1This is covered in other questions, but to be honest the answers there are not very good. One answer there simply dismisses "got" as "poor grammar," but this Cambridge Dictionary page is more on track by saying it's "more informal," and explaining more.– Andy BonnerMar 7 at 22:00
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@AndyBonner We also discussed this issue recently at ell.stackexchange.com/questions/309358/… and ell.stackexchange.com/questions/303060/i-had-got-to-eat-burger. I'm not close-voting, but I'm not sure whether this question really adds anything new.– MarcInManhattanMar 8 at 0:46
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1 Answer
In informal speech, it is common for English speakers in the U.S. to say "I've got something" (or "no something") in the sense of having a condition (like an illness) or living situation (like a job).
Less common is to say (for have) "I got" without "have" -- it sounds less educated and more like slang or dialect to say "I got no money" than to say "I've got no money" -- though it is common in some idiomatic speech.
In the sense of acquire or gain, "got" is common and grammatical: "I got a job offer yesterday" and "I got accepted at the university."
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In British English I've got meaning I have is if anything even more common, and is used for physical objects, and in questions and negations ("Have you got the book?" "No, I haven't got any books.") But I got without the have or 've' is I think less common than in US English. Mar 7 at 23:59
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@user8356 I would like to know some examples of this idiomatic speech where "got" without "have" is common.– haruseMar 8 at 1:01
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