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cj1976
Joined: 26 Oct 2005
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 Posted: Wed Jul 18, 2012 2:09 am Post subject: British and American English: Have got vs have |
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Which do you say? I've got a new house / I have a new house.
I am British and I usually say the latter to express possession of something. I taught an adult class and told them that the former is more common in US English, but according to some websites, 'have got' is more common in Britain. What do you think? |
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edwardcatflap
Joined: 22 Mar 2009
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| Posted: Wed Jul 18, 2012 2:21 am Post subject: |
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| Maybe you've been hanging around with Northern Americans for a while because 'have got' is definitely more British. |
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YTMND
Joined: 16 Jan 2012
Location: You're the man now dog!!
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| Posted: Wed Jul 18, 2012 2:31 am Post subject: |
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| Practically speaking, I would use "got" to mean more that I bought something instead of meaning I own it. If I were to use "got" in this case, it would be when talking to someone who I haven't talked with since I got the house, and I would say, "I got a house now" to emphasize I bought it since the last time I talked with the person. |
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cj1976
Joined: 26 Oct 2005
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| Posted: Wed Jul 18, 2012 2:39 am Post subject: |
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| edwardcatflap wrote: |
| Maybe you've been hanging around with Northern Americans for a while because 'have got' is definitely more British. |
You might just be right about me hanging around with the North Americans. I can't believe how much American English I have picked up in the past few years. I am still sure that I have always said have rather than have got, but I honestly can't remember now! |
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schwa
Joined: 18 Jan 2003
Location: Yap
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| Posted: Wed Jul 18, 2012 2:51 am Post subject: |
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I'm Canadian so I grew up with both usages & conversationally I use both interchangeably with other native speakers. In the classroom I stick to "I have" as simpler for communicative purposes with beginner efl'ers.
I think "I've got" is the British flavor? |
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Squire
Joined: 26 Sep 2010
Location: Jeollanam-do
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| Posted: Wed Jul 18, 2012 3:27 am Post subject: |
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| I'm British and used to use 'have got' rather than just 'have', but then developed the notion that it was incorrect so started using 'have' on it's own. Are both okay? |
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cj1976
Joined: 26 Oct 2005
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| Posted: Wed Jul 18, 2012 3:49 am Post subject: |
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| Squire wrote: |
| I'm British and used to use 'have got' rather than just 'have', but then developed the notion that it was incorrect so started using 'have' on it's own. Are both okay? |
Neither is right or wrong, just different. I am going to have to tell my class I confused British English and American English. Quite embarrasing haha. |
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young_clinton
Joined: 09 Sep 2009
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| Posted: Wed Jul 18, 2012 3:55 am Post subject: |
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| One is perfect present the other is simple present. |
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cj1976
Joined: 26 Oct 2005
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| Posted: Wed Jul 18, 2012 3:59 am Post subject: |
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| young_clinton wrote: |
| One is perfect present the other is simple present. |
I was thinking more of the meaning behind the utterance. "I've got a cold" means the same thing as "I have a cold". Anyway, it's all explained here:
http://esl.about.com/cs/beginner/a/beg_havegot.htm |
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byrddogs
Joined: 19 Jun 2009
Location: Shanghai
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| Posted: Wed Jul 18, 2012 4:01 am Post subject: |
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| YTMND wrote: |
| Practically speaking, I would use "got" to mean more that I bought something instead of meaning I own it. If I were to use "got" in this case, it would be when talking to someone who I haven't talked with since I got the house, and I would say, "I got a house now" to emphasize I bought it since the last time I talked with the person. |
 How about "I've got a house now"? Your wording sounds like some of my fellow southern Americans. |
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YTMND
Joined: 16 Jan 2012
Location: You're the man now dog!!
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| Posted: Wed Jul 18, 2012 6:54 am Post subject: |
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| byrddogs wrote: |
| YTMND wrote: |
| Practically speaking, I would use "got" to mean more that I bought something instead of meaning I own it. If I were to use "got" in this case, it would be when talking to someone who I haven't talked with since I got the house, and I would say, "I got a house now" to emphasize I bought it since the last time I talked with the person. |
How about "I've got a house now"? Your wording sounds like some of my fellow southern Americans. |
No, down south, that would be "I dun gots" 
I think it may sound strange because we generally don't talk about houses often (usually, you don't just buy one outright either). If we changed it to computer, it might sound more realistic, "I got a new computer last week." In this case, it definitely is not south or northern and there is no need to say "now".
A significant change in events would use "now" for emphasis of that change.
Now, to use "I've", I would use that in the sense, "I have had____ for". For example, "I have had this computer for 2 years."
"I have got" / "I've got" sounds more immediate to me, "Sweet, I've got a new iphone now." (you just purchased one at the store moments ago).
Again, I don't see this as being a regional thing in America. I have heard people all over American express themselves this way. |
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b-class rambler
Joined: 25 Mar 2009
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| Posted: Wed Jul 18, 2012 6:20 pm Post subject: |
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| schwa wrote: |
In the classroom I stick to "I have" as simpler for communicative purposes with beginner efl'ers.
I think "I've got" is the British flavor? |
Agree on both of those points. I nowadays tend to stick to "I have" for the same reasons, even with people a little bit past the beginner stage.
But it's definitely used in Britain. Just think of the question form 'have you got' v. 'do you have' and how often that gets said in colloquial use in Britain.
Got a light?
Got a pen?
Got a minute?
Got any ID?
and so on...
And the answer was always, 'no, I haven't' rather than 'no, I don't.'
I've been under the impression that it's more used in Britain than America, but, not being American nor having ever been there, I really don't know how accurate that impression is. |
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cj1976
Joined: 26 Oct 2005
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| Posted: Thu Jul 19, 2012 4:28 pm Post subject: |
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It's amazing how quickly you lose some of your mother tongue if you are not continually immersed in it. Although British and American English are still 99% identical, subtle differences like this can easily be forgotten. I've been here 6 years now and most of the people I've know have been of the North American kind, and I have generally taught American English. Subsequently, I've adopted some Americanisms in my speech. I now say 'elevator' rather than 'lift', 'candies' rather than 'sweets', 'pants' rather than 'trousers', and so on. Even my pronunciation has changed slightly. For example, I sometimes say the word 'twenty' in the american accent 'twenny'.
Looks like I need to go home and rehabilitate myself haha. |
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b-class rambler
Joined: 25 Mar 2009
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| Posted: Thu Jul 19, 2012 4:37 pm Post subject: |
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| cj1976 wrote: |
It's amazing how quickly you lose some of your mother tongue if you are not continually immersed in it. Although British and American English are still 99% identical, subtle differences like this can easily be forgotten. I've been here 6 years now and most of the people I've know have been of the North American kind, and I have generally taught American English. Subsequently, I've adopted some Americanisms in my speech. I now say 'elevator' rather than 'lift', 'candies' rather than 'sweets', 'pants' rather than 'trousers', and so on. Even my pronunciation has changed slightly. For example, I sometimes say the word 'twenty' in the american accent 'twenny'.
Looks like I need to go home and rehabilitate myself haha. |
Yeah, very much so. I even ended up saying "to-may-to" to a class the other week 
TBH though, it makes sense that this happens to us. Albeit on a different level, the same happens to a lot of people who move from one part of Britain to another where they start to pick up the accent of the place they move to. As a native of the north-east who ended up in Birmingham, I found this particularly traumatic.  |
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jonski
Joined: 26 Feb 2011
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| Posted: Thu Jul 19, 2012 7:27 pm Post subject: |
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I'm from London and I would say both I think. Difficult to give an answer as I can picture myself saying both.
I disagree that American and British English are 99% the same. I lived in the states and travelled right across it also. I found that we have so many expressions back home that were not always understood and widely used in the states. I think however this depends largely on what part you go as America is so vast.
Haha - I remember having a full on war with someone at a bar somewhere in rural Louisiana because they told me 'learnt' wasn't a word. My friend and I nearly died of laughter when we heard a lady in wallmart say:
"my fanny hurts"
HAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH. Only English people will understand this lol! |
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