Get is one of the most common verbs in the English language and for this reason, you need to learn about all the possible forms of this verb. One of these forms is gotten. The use of this form depends on your geographical location – whether it is a real word or not.
In Britain and most UK English speaking countries such as Australia, gotten has been phased out. Most people have replaced it with got. However, gotten is popular in the United States of America and Canada. So for those asking, is gotten a real word, you’ll get a big YES. Follow this guide to learn more.
History of the word gotten
Although it’s commonly spoken in most parts of North America, its origin is in Britain. It was not until the late 1500s that gotten started fading out.
Here are a few texts from early British writers that show the commonality of this word in middle English.
Treasures that are wickedly gotten, profit nothinge (Myles Coverdale (Bible translation, 1535))
Jack Cade hath gotten London Bridge (William Shakespeare (Henry VI pt 2, c1591))
I had gotten my libertye (Walter Raleigh (letter, 1618))
I have now gotten me a pair of new horses (John Evelyn (letter, 1690))
What is a better word for gotten
Gotten is more frequent in American English as compared to its usage in British English. In American English, gotten is the past participle of get. Alternatively, in British English, gotten was in use way back in middle English but was dropped for the much preferred shorter version got.
Nevertheless, got is also still used in North America as a participle of get in some aspects.
For example:
The ruling party has got to change its policies.
The terrorists have got to move quickly because the FBI is on their trail.
The words got and gotten are both in use in American English. However, the got and gotten meaning changes depending on the combination with noun or verb phrases.
How to use gotten
There are various forms of usage of gotten. In this guide, we shall look at the forms, have, has and had gotten. Similarly, we can also use has/have/had with got as well.
Have gotten
This is only used in North America and can have three meanings. See a few examples below.
1. I have gotten a season ticket to watch NFL matches
(have gotten has been used to show possession)
Possession can have an alternative of got in the same sentence for British English.
2. You have gotten smarter at playing chess
(Means has become/development)
3. I’ve gotten funds to start a new business venture
(Means acquired from somewhere).
Has gotten
Has gotten can have the same meaning with have gotten but with he or she as singular subjects.
Had gotten as a perfect tense
The past perfect tense is created by combining had and past participle in a sentence. Since gotten is the past participle, the past perfect tense of get would therefore be taken as had gotten.
Example:
We had gotten our books ready for class when the lunchbreak bell rang.
The gotten word is correct. You can rightly use it as shown above without making a grammar error. Besides, there are words such as gotted that can be misspelled to sound like it. However, gotted meaning, according to the Urban dictionary, is to get killed.
Follow this guide to understand how this verb can be integrated in your English phrases correctly.
Clap
