Re: USAGE: "gotten" (was: Latin) verb examples and tense meanings
| From: | Ed Heil <edheil@...> |
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| Date: | Thursday, January 20, 2000, 21:23 |
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So essentially "I've got money" is more or less synonymous with "I
have money," and both are present tense in sense despite the fact that
the first is present perfect in form.
(Much like the Latin verb "novi," which is, in form, the present
perfect of the verb "nosco," to recognize, and so would mean "I have
recognized," except that it has a present sense and means "to know.")
Whereas "I've gotten money" is in fact a present perfect in sense as
well as form.
A useful distinction!
I'm wondering whether there is a sense distinction between "I have
money" and "I've got money" now. My intuitive impression is that the
former is somewhat more marked and emphatic than the latter, but
that's a very vague impression. Maybe the former is a bit more formal
than the latter too.
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edheil@postmark.net
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"Bill Gates is a white Persian cat and a monocle away from becoming
another James Bond villain. 'No Mr Bond, I expect you to upgrade.'"
--Dennis Miller
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John Cowan wrote:
> Nik Taylor wrote:
> >
> > Raymond Brown wrote:
> > > another, much as I say 'have got' and, I guess, Nik says 'have gotten'.
> >
> > I use both, actually.
>
> As do all Americans, a point frequently muddled by English authors
> in their attempts to represent American English. They make their
> poor characters commit things like *"He hasn't gotten any sense", which
> can only mean "He hasn't *acquired* any sense", which is nonsense!
> The natural expression is "He hasn't got any sense"; "He hasn't any sense"
> seems a bit odd here.
>
> Sometimes the two are in minimal contrast. "He hasn't got any money"
> means he is poor; "He hasn't gotten any money" means none has arrived
> from the source in question.
>
> --
>
> Schlingt dreifach einen Kreis vom dies! || John Cowan
<jcowan@...>