Korean Job Discussion Forums

[asams]

In all of the writing books I use I'm seeing "has got" to show possession instead of simply "has"....

Example: Tommy has got five siblings. - I would say: Tommy has five siblings.

I tell my students to just use "has" but I assume that "has got" is also right, since these text books would never have incorrect information

Does anyone know the rule for using has and has got, or is it simply a matter of preference?

Edited to include example

[Straphanger]

Drop that grammar book and pick up a dictionary. The answers you seek can be found within.

[The Gipkik]

Do you have any extra paper? Have you got any extra paper? Identical in meaning, but the latter uses present perfect. It might be a politeness thing. I believe the Brits may use "have got" more often than the present simple "have." Still, there are contexts where "have got" is more normal and specific like when you are answering the phone--"I've got it!" Here there is a difference in meaning emphasizing something you are getting or have gotten. Just think about which word is being stressed in the phrase. Is it "have" or "got," and you'll have all the information you need. Youtube used to have GoGo Adventures in English, lesson 14 on "have got," but it just got pulled a couple of days ago.

[bogey666]

[Stones1962]

Practical English Usage by Michael Swan is a good book to have....invest in it and you'll the answers at your fingertips

[the foystein]

I do not think the book is correct.

[asams]

[b-class rambler]

[bogey666]

I've never studied grammar, nor am I an English major, but it seems to me we're talking about a technicality.

he's got and he has got are effectively the SAME thing.

the contraction doesn't come from "is", but from "has".

if a=b, then technically they are interchangeable.

they are clearly not interchangeably used in everyday speech though.

the elongated version is very rare, and indeed would sound "strange" most of the time (though not always)

[Kikomom]

Using 'got' for 'have' is incorrect, and makes me cringe when I hear it--even though I might do it unconsciously now and then myself.

Congugate the verb 'get' and you have the proper usage:

Get ... Got ... Gotten

The Grammar Bible, page 51

[fustiancorduroy]

[bogey666]

[ArizonaBill]

Gotten is supposedly more common in American English and got (as the past participle of get) is more common in British English.

Have got is an entirely different kind of word. It's used as a unit, colloquially, as an emphatic replacement for have or must. Past participle rules don't really apply since the got works like an auxiliary verb. Though it's often shunned in formal writing, it's considered good English since sentences that use have got (which is almost always contracted) rather than have or must, often have slightly different meanings.

For a basic definition for your students, you can just say that have got is slightly more casual than have or must, is almost always used contracted, and is very common in the spoken language. Sometimes using it is inappropriate, though. For instance in the example from the textbook in the original post. Have is generally preferred in formal writing when there is no change in meaning between the two forms.

My opinion is that for the English-speaker's mouth, 've got is slightly easier to say than the word have. Changing the mouth from the H-position to the V-position seems to be rather inefficient compared to starting in the V-position, bouncing out a G, and stopping at an unaspirated T. At least that's how it feels in my mouth. YMMV.

[some waygug-in]

I think you people have got it all under control. It's one of those usage thingys that are acceptable in spoken English, but would not be used for any kind of academic writing.

Ya got that?

So now that ya got it, I gotta take a crap.

Yeepers, I gots ta gits me tu a crapper 'n pronto!

[Easter Clark]

There's nothing wrong with your book. It' (the book, that is) is likely British English. Both are correct, it's a matter of preference. Telling your students to cross out "got" is doing them a disservice!