Hi Lori! That's a good pair of examples. I'd sort of considered the got/gotten difference ("simple possession" versus "process" i.e. less complex versus more complex past participle) about a year ago (here:
http://forums.eslcafe.com/job/viewtopic ... 587#777587 ), but more in a context of only one of the forms making the most sense, being the most frequently used probably (
I've got a headache versus ?
I've gotten a headache).
Anyway, I suppose the clearest way to show the difference between "genuine present perfect" and simple present (for anyone who has a real problem with the likes of the
Cutting Edge terms*) would involve using adjectives (in describing "changes of state"/"end results of processes") rather than nouns: *
I've/I have fat (="I'm/I am fat") versus
I've got/gotten (=become)
fat. (Or one could just have the use of 'get' by itself, in and of itself, to which any addition of perfect aspect should be easy enough to appreciate:
I get fat eating peanuts;
I got (was) so fat last year that I had to join a gym).
*Or they could simply be referred to e.g. Leech et al's
An A-Z of English Grammar & Usage (the first reference book within easy reach that I've now consulted at all in relation to this topic! Silly "lazy" me!
): "
have got (verb idiom)
have got is Present Perfect in form, but its meaning is usually (in the sense of 'possess', versus the 'become' or 'obtain' meaning of
have got/have gotten - FH) the same as a Present Simple."
