Grammar 'have' and 'got'

You serious?

1. I have a headache.
2. I will have a lots of money tomorrow.
3. I don't have/have not got/ your address.
4. She never has doubts.

'Explain'?
Ok, Mine make sense, as do yours, but yours are derived from a less 'English-speaking origin.
Grammar is fine, yet the ability to communicate is what matters.
So just do it your way - is more fun that way.

I'd score it as:

1) Not really unacceptable, but better would be "I have a headache."
2) Not acceptable. A correct version would be "I will get a lot of money tomorrow"
3) Not acceptable. "I don't have your address."
4) Not acceptable. "She never has doubts."

Hi engineer,
Please explain. I am confused on the word 'got'. I cannot discover the error in this sentence 'She never has got doubts'.

Ok, excuse
typo on no2 "Lot", not "lots".

Your error is 'overusage'
"She has doubts' OK
"She has got doubts" OK
"She never has doubts" OK
"She never has 'got' doubts" NOT OK - can substitute for "She has never got doubts" though.
But most concise is - "she never doubts"

If I were an English teacher, I might be able to give you a rule to follow, but since I'm not I'll throw out an opinion and let those with more experience praise or damn me as they will.

Combining have and got is pretty common and in many cases really doesn't change the meaning very much. Saying "I have something" seems time indeterminate: I'm not saying whether I got it last week or last year. Saying "I've got something" (the contraction is very common for speakers instead of saying "I have got") implies immediacy - it happened recently. In the specific example "She never has got doubts", there is no immediacy so I would go with "She never has doubts." If I was saying the opposite I would include got ("I've got doubts about this") since it implies something about right now.

Once again, those are my thoughts on it as a native speaker, not necessarily what a text book would say.

Basically Jane, in your last two examples, you're giving two lots of negatives when you only need one.

I have a headache, or I've got a headache.
Number 2 is acceptable, but would probably sound better as I will have a lot of money tomorrow.
I don't have your address, or I haven't got your address.
She never has doubts, or She has got no doubts.

When I was a kid, we were taught that "I have a big dog" was OK, and "I have got a big dog" was vulgar and slangy and wrong. Of course that is a contentious assertion, but "got" can certainly be removed from many formulations to do with possession without altering the meaning.

"I have a large sum of money" could be equivalent to "I have got a large sum of money", or it might mean something different, depending on whether "got" is part of the informal phrase "have got" or the past participle of "get".

Yes. British kids are taught to avoid "got" and "nice" wherever possible because it considered to be "lazy" or "poor style".

If I remember correctly, one of my grammar books states that "have got" means the exact same thing as "have" but is only used in the United Kingdom and only in the present tense. If you never use got with have, you will be fine.

I have got a cold.
I haven't got a cold.
I have got to take a shower.
He has got to pay back my money.
It has got to be raining in Florida for his flight to be delayed.
We have got many things to do tomorrow before we leave.

"I have got", is as I stated above, a mainly British English casual/conversational equivalent of "I have".

I have got a cold. In British English, which is, incidentally widely spoken outside the UK, this means the same as "I have a cold"

I haven't got a cold. See above.

I have (or have got) to take a shower. This use of "got" implies obigation or ncessity but means "I must take a shower". (Because I smell bad, or my mother told me to, etc)

He has (or has got) to pay back my money. See above.

It has (or has got) to be raining in Florida for his flight to be delayed. This means "It necessarily follows that it is raining in Florida if his flight is delayed".

We have (or have got) many things to do tomorrow before we leave. This means "We have many things to do..."
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"contentious"??! It was and is damn daft, Contrex.



It most certainly cannot be removed without substantially changing the nuance that 'have' adds to 'got'. It's an essential part of the English language the world over.

Exact phrase - "I've got" - UK region only
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Exact phrase - "I've got" - US region only
About 1,770,000,000 results

It adds much import to a simple "I/you have/he-she has/we/they have".