what does that " gotcha" means?

Hi,

It's short for I've got you.    got you can be pronounced quickly as gotcha.

'to get someone' can have a number of meanings. It often means 'I have an advantage over you'. eg

When a policeman captures a robber, the policeman might say 'Gotcha'.

or When I make the winning move to beat you at chess, I might say 'Gotcha'.

If you look at it from the opposite point of view, the robber might say to the policeman, 'You've got me'.

Best wishes, Clive

A similar word you might see is "wanna", short for "want to" as in:

I wanna play football today

(nb, its pronounced wonner)

Hi,

gotta = have got to

eg I gotta cook dinner = I have to cook dinner.

Don't forget, these are all matters of casual pronunciation. We don't use this kind of spelling in our writing.

Best wishes, Clive

Hi,

When I wrote I gotta cook dinner = I have to cook dinner,

I actually meant to write I gotta cook dinner = I have got to cook dinner.

american don't use it "gotta"? I didn't say they don't use it.

i saw it on the harrpy potter and sorcerer's stone while i was reading I hope it was in quotation marks, to show that the author was trying to imitate the sounds of direct speech. If you start writing 'gotta' in your English writing exam, you are going to lose marks.

Best wishes again, Clive