It has got an oil stain. Is it grammatically correct to use “an”?
Yes, because ‘oil’ starts with a vowel sound. /ɔɪ/
[color=blue]Remove “got”. It is not only unnecessary but also sounds bad.
Hello, Canadian45:
We are taught that ‘have got’ is generally considered more informal than ‘have’. Perhaps, Hardwork wished to say that sentence in an informal fashion. I would just like to know why you think that it sounds bad.
Thanks.
Hi Foreigner,
Personally, I wouldn’t use it either (it’s usually possible to avoid using ‘got’), as I feel it gives the sentence an ‘ugly’ sound, but in an informal situation, you are correct, it can be used and there is no need to remove it in that case.
“It has got an oil stain.”[color=blue] Using “got” like that is very crude inelegant English. the same for sentences like '‘I got one brother and two sisters.’
I would largely restrict the use of “got” to two main uses.
- in sentences like ‘I got your letter today.’ (‘got’ = ‘received’)
- for perfect tense
Could you exemplify it.
(Is it like ‘I have got to do it’ or ‘I have got your letter today’?)
[color=blue]not correct You have to remove “have” or “today”.
I would not use ‘got’ in
I have to do it.
[color=blue]My meaning was using it as an example of British present-perfect tense.
Would you say ‘I have got several chances to do that.’?
In American English ‘I have gotten several chances to do that.’ would be considered correct, but something like ‘I (have) had several chances to do that.’ is certainly more common English.
I don’t think we have to. Present perfect with ‘today’ is acceptable as we are still within the day.
[color=blue]Who told you that??
She has not spoken to him today.
They have arrived this morning.
I have not seen him recently/in the recent past.
It has rained every day this week.[color=green]*
We haven’t heard of her of late.
He hasn’t met me before.
(These are considered acceptable. I’ll try to quote the source. Meanwhile let’s wait for other comments)
Yes, the past simple is also possible in all the cases above.
[color=green]* Source: # 14 at Page 187 of ‘Rapid Review of English Grammar’ by Jean Praninskas, an American grammarian.
The problem arises because the sentence uses ‘got’. It doesn’t fit in the same way as any of those examples.
“I have got your letter today.” - inappropriate
“I got your letter today.” - correct
“I have got wet today.” - inappropriate.
BUT
“I have received your letter today.” - possible
“I received your letter today.” - correct
“I have got wet three times today.” - possible
“I have got wet three times this week.” - correct