Got a car or gotten a car

@centrox,

Latest images from London.

https://cbsnews1.cbsistatic.com/hub/i/2010/12/11/afb1ccbd-a642-11e2-a3f0-029118418759/Dyke_Mary_Poppins_chimney_sweeps.jpg

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@izzythepush,

Because I quote a line from a Beatles song, you say that I think I know more about the U.K. than you or Centrox? Thanks for the laugh.

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@centrox,

Quote:

In 1981 I lived in a street that everyone called the "nine o'clock shop".

i don't know about you, but i live on a street...

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@Ponderer,

That's not the only reason.

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@Region Philbis,

Region Philbis wrote:

Quote:
In 1981 I lived in a street that everyone called the "nine o'clock shop".
i don't know about you, but i live on a street...

In Britain, we often say we live in a road or street.

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@Ponderer,

Ponderer wrote:

"Wednesday morning at five o'clock as the day begins"
From the song "She's Leaving Home" by the Beatles
Written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney

What about this then?

Quote:

Four a.m. in the morning
Carried away by a moonlight shadow
Written by Michael Gordon Oldfield

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@centrox,

reminds me of the old george carlin joke about being on the plane vs in the plane...

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@centrox,

This was when many shops closed earlier.

With reference to the above sentence, what does "earlier" mean? In other words, "earlier" than what?

Thanks again.

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@paok1970,

Earlier than they do now. When I was a kid many shops closed at 5pm, now there are a lot of shops that stay open 24 hours, and big department stores quite often stay open until 8 or 9pm.

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@centrox,

Referring to your question "What about this then?
( " Four a.m. in the morning
Carried away by a moonlight shadow." ) by Michael Gorden Oldfield

Very nice. The first line may have been intentionally left open to speculation as to whether he had been awake all night or if it expresses the peace of awakening in the pre-dawn hours.The second line could either mean that he was comforted by the life-long dependability of the moon, that he was perhaps lost in the memory of a less-lonely time in the moonlight, or maybe even feelings of the
mockery of the "lovers' moon"
What about this then?

320am

It's all too much to keep within.
She died on my chest,
her head under my chin.
She was my kitty
for sixteen years.
Even after six months
I still cry sweet tears

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@paok1970,

paok1970 wrote:

With reference to the above sentence, what does "earlier" mean? In other words, "earlier" than what?

Than the time mentioned earlier ("nine o'clock").

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@Ponderer,

Ponderer wrote:

Referring to your question "What about this then?
( " Four a.m. in the morning
Carried away by a moonlight shadow." ) by Michael Gorden Oldfield

Very nice. The first line may have been intentionally left open to speculation as to whether he had been awake all night or if it expresses the peace of awakening in the pre-dawn hours.

I personally think that the redundant/unnecessary "a.m. in the morning" arose because Mike Oldfield wrote the tune first and needed a couple of syllables to make the words fit the tune. Numerous apparent 'poetic' occurrences are due to such considerations, as Lennon and McCartney themelves said, when questioned about 'hidden meanings' in their lyrics.

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@centrox,

You're right. He could have written "4:15 in the morning." Or at the risk of a barrage from Izzz,"4 o'clock in the morning."

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I'm not so sure about the o'clock way of talking about the exact hours on the clock is completely obsolete. We have flexible working in the office where I work, you can come in any time between 7:00 and 10:00 and leave any time between 15:30 and 18:00, as long as you do the equivalent of a 37 hour week over a 4 week period. You can carry over 3 days up or down. Anyhow, we routinely say things like "I'll be in a 9 o'clock tomorrow".

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@Ponderer,

A barrage? You don't say? I merely pointed out that 'o clocks were pretty much redundant conversationally speaking Blightyside and you went mental.

Now you're playing the victim, too much of that and you'll start believing it yourself. If you keep picking at a scab like that it's bound to turn septic.

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@izzythepush,

A victim of you? Yeah, right.

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@maxdancona,

we don't need to take the bus, I got a car.

My question is this:

Why is it "I got a car" and not "I've got a car"?

Thank you.

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@paok1970,

paok1970 wrote:

Why is it "I got a car" and not "I've got a car"? Thank you.

He is using US colloquial English.
Standard formal English: I have a car.
Informal/casual: I have got a car.
Utterly informal: I got a car.

As a language learner, you may be interested in the concept of 'register'.

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@centrox,

centrox wrote:

As a language learner, you may be interested in the concept of 'register'.

One example of an article about this, intended for Canadian students, but generally applicable:

https://drsaraheaton.wordpress.com/2012/05/22/language-register-and-why-it-matters-or-why-you-cant-write-an-academic-paper-in-gangsta-slang/

1 Reply

@paok1970,

In most places native speakers use a lot of idioms. Often if you use the grammatically correct form in normal speech, native speakers will think it is odd. There is no logic to the way people speak in normal conversation. You just need to learn which phrases are common.

I know this is true in Spanish as it is in English. I imagine it is also true in other languages. When I was just learning Spanish, I would always ask native Spanish speakers why they didn't use the "proper" grammar in the textbooks... they never had a good answer for that. Neither do I.

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Got a car or gotten a car

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