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When watching US movies, I often hear something like this:

A: I got something for you.

(Then A gives B a present he bought for her)

B: Thank you so much.

I don't know what the meaning of "got", I think that "got" here has one out of the two meanings below, but I don't know which one:

1."Got" is the past tense of "get".

I got something for you= I bought something for you.

2.I know that in the US, "got" sometimes means "have" :

I got something for you= I have something for you.

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    I CV'd because it's impossible to know which meaning is intended without more context. I'll just note that in the U.S. "I've got" would be more common (though not mandatory) for the second meaning.
    – MarcInManhattan
    Commented Apr 23, 2023 at 6:35
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    I mainly agree with @MarcInManhattan but 'I got' is more likely to mean 'I acquired' whereas 'I've got' is more likely 'I have in my possession'. Neither is set in stone though.
    – DoneWithThis.
    Commented Apr 23, 2023 at 7:51
  • @MarcInManhattan what is the meaning of “CV’d”?
    – LE123
    Commented Apr 23, 2023 at 9:52
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    Marcin has explained why they voted to close, i.e Close Voted (CV'd), the question.
    – Mari-Lou A
    Commented Apr 23, 2023 at 12:18
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    What @MarcInManhattan said. The text is inherently ambiguous, and I don't see the point in speculating as to which parsing is most likely to apply. But sense #1 can be unambiguously conveyed simply by switching to an explicitly ditransitive verb usage without preposition: I got you something.
    – FumbleFingers
    Commented Apr 23, 2023 at 12:51

2 Answers 2

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To get something for someone, means to obtain/procure something for someone. It doesn't mean bought or have in the example.

Use of got here doesn't specify how the gift was actually procured. It could have been bought, but we'd only know this from the context, for example, if we saw him buy it in a shop, or if somebody mentioned that he'd bought it. If there was no context given, there could be many possible scenarios: e.g., He could have stolen it for her, he could have found it for her, he could have made it for her, etc, etc. There are many ways to obtain/procure something.

This is a fairly common construction used in informal/colloquial English and is not just US specific. As far as I know, all English speakers either use this, or are at least familiar with it.

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  • Agreed - "I got" is completely transpondian; though "gotten" is left bank only ;)
    – DoneWithThis.
    Commented Apr 23, 2023 at 10:47
  • @DoneWithThis. I wouldn't be so sure of that - the word "gotten" came from Britain originally, but went out of fashion in standard English, but that doesn't mean that English speakers in the UK suddenly stopped using it. There are some regions/dialects where it survived, Scotland being one of them. Google this "he has gotten a gentle wife".
    – Billy Kerr
    Commented Apr 23, 2023 at 11:11
  • The most logical assumption in that scene is the speaker purchased a birthday gift. If it was handmade they would have said "I made this for you. I hope you like it”
    – Mari-Lou A
    Commented Apr 23, 2023 at 12:22
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    Yes, it does mean to buy or purchase here. I obtained something for you. to buy and that's how English speakers use it. In the US and in the UK etc. "I got something for you" [today, at the shops, online etc. etc. etc/] is the past tense of get.
    – Lambie
    Commented Apr 23, 2023 at 14:56
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    @Lambie - it only does here, in this specific example, because the context is mentioned by the OP. However, the word "got" does not mean "bought" - it only means obtained/procured. Without any context, I could say "I got some flowers for you today". That wouldn't rule out the possibility that I picked them from my garden, or stole them from a graveyard.
    – Billy Kerr
    Commented Apr 23, 2023 at 15:05
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The meaning of got in “I got something for you” could either be:

a. I have got something for someone.
b. I bought or obtained something for someone.

The contracted form I've got is also used in informal speech.

The following all mean the same as “Joe bought tickets to the concert”

  1. Joe got tickets to the concert. (informal)
  2. Joe has got tickets to the concert. (BrEng and AmEng)
  3. Joe's got tickets… (contracted form)
  4. Joe has gotten tickets … (AmEng, informal)
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    "I got some wine while shopping". I bought. And this is not have got as in have in hand. "Has he got the wine now?". To have in hand.
    – Lambie
    Commented Apr 23, 2023 at 14:58
  • If B hear the sentence ""I got you something" from A. B won't know if A mean the sentence a (have got-in possession ) or sentence b (bought or obtained) . Am I right?
    – LE123
    Commented Apr 24, 2023 at 4:03
  • @LEHANH If a friend tells me, "I have got something for you” my immediate response will be, "What?" Because if it's not my birthday or an anniversary of some sorts, then that "something" could be anything. No one just goes up to a friend or partner and utters this line without some sort of context. Maybe that "something" is a document, an exam result, my lost pair of sunglasses. It could be anything, I won't know if it was purchased until I get = receive the object.
    – Mari-Lou A
    Commented Apr 24, 2023 at 10:42
  • I will provide the context like this: I found that my friend have been sad recently. I decided to buy a gift for her to surprise and make her happy again. Now, I meet her in our class. I say to her: How are you? Hey, I got something for you. My friend: Thank you so much.// If my friend hears this sentence "I got something for you", she won't know if I used "got" to mean "have- in possession now" or "acquired/ obtained".
    – LE123
    Commented Apr 24, 2023 at 11:02
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    @LEHANH A few corrections: Do these 3 sentences mean the same, that she currently owns a new car at the present moment ? Yes but No.2 is very informal, I'd say She's got… All the examples are listed in my answer. It's true that Joe could have bought or received the tickets but in real life we would say if Joe received the tickets as a gift, if he had won the tickets, even if he had found them lying on the sidewalk/pavement. In Joe's context, "get" means obtain, and usually that means someone bought the tickets.
    – Mari-Lou A
    Commented Apr 24, 2023 at 14:46

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