# What's correct, "he had GOT some" or "he had GOTTEN some"?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-correct-he-had-got-some-or-he-had-gotten-some/219105>\
**Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\
**Created:** [December 15, 2003, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-correct-he-had-got-some-or-he-had-gotten-some/219105 "2003-12-15T13:10:55Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![IngramJames](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c6cbf5/32.png) [@IngramJames](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IngramJames)\
**Post date:** [December 15, 2003, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-correct-he-had-got-some-or-he-had-gotten-some/219105/1 "2003-12-15T13:10:55Z")

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An old, old post I saw while brosing the current “classics” selection.

Thought I would point out that Bill Bryson covers this in “Mother Tongue”, where he points out that while some people dislike “gotten”, they still use “forgotten”. The distinction between “forgot” and “forgotten” is the same as that between “got” and “gotten”.

“I’ve got a nice car” - I have a car, which I have had for some undetermined but significant period

“I’ve gotten myself a nice car” - I have acquired a car at a very recent point in the past.

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**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\
**Post date:** [December 15, 2003, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-correct-he-had-got-some-or-he-had-gotten-some/219105/2 "2003-12-15T13:15:26Z")

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Welcome to the Straight Dope Message Boards, **Ingram** , glad to have you with us.

When you start a thread, it’s helpful to others if you provide a link to the Column, helps to keep everyone on the same page. In this case, it’s [“What’s correct, ‘he had GOT some’ or ‘he had GOTTEN some’?”](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a1_294.html)

No biggie, you’ll know for next time.

This has been discussed in a lengthy thread elsewhere on this forum: [“Got / Gotten and Noah Webster”](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=225331)

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**Author:** ![Askance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askance/32/8281_2.png) [@Askance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askance)\
**Post date:** [December 16, 2003, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-correct-he-had-got-some-or-he-had-gotten-some/219105/3 "2003-12-16T02:25:27Z")

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“He had some” or “he got some”, depending on what you are trying to say. “Had got” or "had gotten’ are both awkward.

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**Author:** ![IngramJames](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c6cbf5/32.png) [@IngramJames](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IngramJames)\
**Post date:** [December 16, 2003, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-correct-he-had-got-some-or-he-had-gotten-some/219105/4 "2003-12-16T12:36:59Z")

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Thanks for the heads up, CK.