Search results for 'tag:Present tenses tag:British English' matching tags 'Present tenses' and 'British English'

Re: Present Perfect (americans)

Yankee — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 22:04:32 GMT

As is the case with British English, whether an American uses the simple present or the present perfect often simply depends on how the speaker is viewing a past activity. That said, when either tense is possible according to the "usual rules", I think there is a noticeable tendency for Americans to choose the simple past tense more often than our British cousins would. There are also a few well-known examples of American usage that probably drive some (but hopefully not all) Brits crazy. For example: "Did you eat yet?" and "I already did that."

The problem with quite a few of your sentences is that there isn't enough context in the sentences themselves (they're very short) and/or not enough broader context with them to say for sure which tense might be more likely in AmE. In a few of your sentences, you haven't really given what I think would be typical wording, so there really isn't much point in trying to say which tense would be used. For example, I can't imagine a doctor asking a patient in his office whether or not the patient had broken his/her arm. And I doubt that the sentences "I've changed my address!" and "I changed my address!" would be used to tell someone I had moved to a new address, so I would need more context there before I could give further input.

It may well be the case (but I don't know this for a fact) that in some cases where a Brit would definitely use the present perfect because there is an effect on the present, we might choose instead to use the simple present tense. If I take your broken arm example, an American might choose to say "I broke my arm last week" (focus on the past event) or "My arm is broken (focus on the current state -- the bone is not yet healed).

Maybe someone else will have some input for you.

Re: wrong to use past tense?

Mr Wordy — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 01:52:17 GMT

He bought a parrot that the seller said it would repeat every word he uttered. Contented, he went home ~~and~~ but later found it didn't say a word. Furious, he went back to the owner and asked him what had happened. The owner answered that he had not lied (didn't lie OK??) to the man.

The lying (or, in fact, absence of it) happened some time before the answering, so "had not lied" (or "hadn't lied") is correct. You might hear native speakers use "didn't lie" in this context, but it's sloppy (IMO) and you should avoid it.

He went mountain climbing. On the way up the mountain, he saw what looked like a box covered in golden paper in a plastic bag. He thought he had gotten (got OK??) something that is was worth a large sum of money but ended up finding there was trash in the bag.

US usage is "gotten" and UK usage is "got". The following is from a British English perspective. I'm not certain if this explanation is also true in Amercan English (with "got" replaced by "gotten").

"Have/had got", in the sense you're using it, is a slightly tricky one. Literally, "have got" means something like "at some point in the past, I got (received/obtained) something, and I still have it", so literally it's the present perfect. Similarly, "had got" is literally the past perfect. However, this sense is, to varying degrees, suppressed, so "have got" can function almost like a present tense (meaning "have"), and "had got" almost like a simple past tense (meaning "had"). In your sentence "had got" is correct (though I suppose "had found" might be better). It can either suggest that he obtained it some time before the moment you're describing, or it can just mean that he had it in his possession. "He thought he had something..." is also OK and replicates the second sense.

[I edited this a little while after posting it to fix a couple of minor typos that were annoying me.]

Re: Gotten or Got

Yankee — Mon, 09 Oct 2006 02:08:43 GMT

Hi Hiro
.
Using your definitions again:

1.
I have acquired / obtained (present perfect) =
In American English: "I have gotten" (I've gotten)
In British English: "I have got" (I've got)

2.
I have / I possess (simple present tense) =
In American and British English: "I have got" (I've got)

"I have gotten" is always the present perfect tense.
"I have gotten" is not used to mean "I have" (I possess).

Re: Past tense of beat

Pidr1nhu — Fri, 28 Jul 2006 22:08:23 GMT

British English it changes:
Present tense - Beat
Past simple- Beat
Past Participle - Beaten

Us English:
Present Tense - Beat
Past Simple - Beat
Past Participle - Beat

Regards.

got has two meanings

Stephe — Mon, 26 Dec 2005 17:58:34 GMT

The word "get" means "recieve" and/or "take".
The past tense is "got".
The past participle is "gotten" (archaic [old] and modern U.S.)
The past participle is also "got" in Modern British.

But, "got" also means "have" in informal English.

"She's got to have it." = She has to have it.
It is wrong to use gotten here because "got" does not mean get.

"We have gotten lost" U.S. & archaic = "We have got lost" Modern British.
We get lost. = present tense
So in this sentence "got" or "gotten" means get.

In Modern British English, "I've got it." = "I've gotten it" U.S. & archaic.
In informal English, Modern British & U.S. "I've got it." = "I have it."

Re: Already

CalifJim — Mon, 17 Oct 2005 03:16:20 GMT

Speakers of British English have a very strong preference for 'already' with the perfect tenses to the exclusion of the simple past. (But check with a speaker of BrE to be sure.)
Americans use 'already' quite freely with the perfect tenses and the simple past. "I already saw that movie". Even though as a speaker of AmE I accept and sometimes generate these constructions with the simple past, I recognize that they are a little awkward and must seem even more so to a speaker of BrE.

Of course, it's also possible to use 'already' with the present tense in both BrE and AmE: "I already know what he's going to say."
CJ

Re: Gotta

CalifJim — Wed, 29 Sep 2004 05:53:42 GMT

The idiom is "have got" in both American and British English. It is a purely idiomatic alternate for "have" and is not much used except in the present tense. That is, "have got" is the present tense of this idiom, even though "get" is the present tense form of "to get", and the past is "got". This is because "have got" is Present Perfect in form, though not in meaning. To be more specific, "have got" is the British Present Perfect, the American Present Perfect being "have gotten". So in American English we have "My brother has gotten up early this morning", whereas in British English we have "My brother has got up early this morning." Nevertheless, the idiom is "have got" in both AmEng and BrEng, not "have gotten", not even in American English.

I have got a pen. = I have a pen.
I have not got any money. = I do not have any money.

Using contractions:

I've got a pen. = I have a pen.
I haven't got any money. = I don't have any money.

The use of "have got" for "have" extends to the affirmative form of the semi-modal "have to", so that "have got to" is an idiomatic substitute for "have to" (meaning "must"). The negative form is rare.

I have got to meet my friend at 10 o'clock. =
I've got to meet my friend at 10 o'clock. = I have to meet my friend at 10 o'clock.

The full conjugation with contractions is:

I've got to ...; you've got to ...; he's (he has) got to ...; she's (she has) got to ... ; we've got to ... ; you've got to ...; they've got to ...;

In fast or less careful speech the contracted "have" ('ve) is glossed over and can barely be heard -- or may not be heard at all. Simultaneously, the "got to" collapses into "gotta". (In American English this is pronounced "godda".) The "z" sound in "he's got" and "she's got" (which stands for "has") remains, however. This leads to the following "conjugation" (using "go" as the complement verb):

I gotta go, you gotta go, he's gotta go, she's gotta go,
we gotta go, you gotta go, they gotta go

This is used in conversation only; it should never be used in formal writing under any circumstances!

Re: Usage of got... proper?

pemmican — Thu, 17 Jun 2004 13:12:44 GMT

Yes, you are right - this is a matter of British and American English:

In American English, the forms usually are:
get (infinitive)
got (past tense)
gotten (past participle)

while in British they are:
get (infinitive)
got (past tense)
got (past participle)

The "inappropriate" use you are referring to is certainly the one when "get" is used together with have:

In British English, have in present tense is usually followed by the past participle of get:
I have got a car.
This is a way to avoid the paraphrasing with "do" in negative and interrogative sentences:
I haven't got a car./ Have you got a car?

So in American English, the use of "got" together with have is generally said to be inappropriate, while in British English this is correct and has even become standard.
In American English however, have is treated like any other "usual" full-verb, i.e. it is generally paraphrased with "do" in the negative and interrogative, the past participle of get does not occur in these sentences:
I have a car./ I don't have a car. /Do you have a car?

The past participle "gotten" is only used in the actual meaning "received", so
I have gotten a car means I have received it.