Many Uses of “got”

Handout 2 for November 2, 2009. _ “Got”, from the verb “to get”, is very common and has many meanings: Something happened to you Many kinds of movement You received something You arrived somewhere You must do something Here are some examples:

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Something bad happened:	Afterwards something good happened:
He got shot.	He got treated at the hospital. (somewhere)
I got fired from my old job.	I got hired at my new job. (opposite)
She got stuck in traffic.	She still got to work on time. (arrived)
The coyote got caught.	He got away again. (escaped)
The house got hit by a car.	The house got fixed up, again. (by a carpenter)
They got in an accident.	But they got away without injury.
They got hurt.	They got treated at the hospital. (same as shot guy)
We got sick.	We got better. (opposite)

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Many kinds of movement Combined with different prepositions:	Received Something
Got up. Got out of bed. Got to the bus stop, but missed the bus. Got on the bus, but couldn’t find a seat. Got to work, but was late. Got in the car, but couldn’t find my keys! Got home, but couldn’t open the door. Got into bed, but had to get up again.	I got a new stereo. They got another car. She got an extra bagel. We got a gift card for $50. He got a new bike for Christmas.

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In Fast Speech, to mean “must”   Native English speakers use “got to” very quickly, usually to mean “must”. Compare to the standard form:
Fast Speech	Standard English
Gutta go!	I have got to go. (I must go.)
Ya gutta move yer car!	You have got to move your car. (You must..)
I gutta getta new job!	I have got to get a new job. (I must…)
We gutta getoutta here!	We have got to get out of here. (We must…)
They gutta get goin!	They have got to get going. (They must…)

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