[Grammar] Be careful, he’s got/has a pretty violent temper.

Status
Not open for further replies.

kadioguy

Key Member
Joined
Mar 4, 2017
Member Type
Student or Learner
Native Language
Chinese
Home Country
Taiwan
Current Location
Taiwan
Be careful, he’s got a pretty violent temper.

https://www.ldoceonline.com/dictionary/temper
-----------

a. Be careful, he’s got a pretty violent temper.
b. Be careful, he has a pretty violent temper.

What is the difference in meaning between them?
 

Rover_KE

Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Jun 20, 2010
Member Type
Retired English Teacher
Native Language
British English
Home Country
England
Current Location
England
They mean the same to me.
 

emsr2d2

Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Jul 28, 2009
Member Type
English Teacher
Native Language
British English
Home Country
UK
Current Location
UK
In terms of possession, "to have" and "to have got" mean exactly the same (in BrE, at least).

I have a cat.
I've got a cat.

He has twelve houses.
He's got twelve houses.

You will find the same interchangeability when using "have to" to mean "must".

I have to go.
I've got to go.

She has to find a job.
She's got to find a job.

When I was teaching in Spain, I made a point of teaching both forms. Most students were unaware of the "have got" version. However, I briefly taught an eight-year-old boy and I was surprised to see that his school English grammar book showed only "to have got" as the infinitive English form of "tener". It did not give "to have".
 

kadioguy

Key Member
Joined
Mar 4, 2017
Member Type
Student or Learner
Native Language
Chinese
Home Country
Taiwan
Current Location
Taiwan
Thank you both. :)

c. I have a book.
d. I've got a book.

Can (d) mean "I didn't have a book, but now I've got a book"? For example,

I've got a book. I just borrowed one from my classmate.
 

GoesStation

No Longer With Us (RIP)
Joined
Dec 22, 2015
Member Type
Interested in Language
Native Language
American English
Home Country
United States
Current Location
United States
c. I have a book.
d. I've got a book.

Can (d) mean "I didn't have a book, but now I've got a book"? For example,

I've got a book. I just borrowed it from my classmate.

Yes. So can c. When they mean possession or necessity, have and have got mean exactly the same thing.
 

kadioguy

Key Member
Joined
Mar 4, 2017
Member Type
Student or Learner
Native Language
Chinese
Home Country
Taiwan
Current Location
Taiwan
Then it made a mistake. There is no infinitive form (to) have got. The infinitive form (to) have serves for both forms of the verb, those with or without 'got'.
Hi, Piscean, I don't really understand the text in color. If you don't mind, could you tell me more about it? :)

Do you mean The infinitive form (to) have serves for both forms of the verb (have), those with or without 'got'? (For example,have, have got, and has, has got, and had, had got)

 
Last edited:

tedmc

VIP Member
Joined
Apr 16, 2014
Member Type
Interested in Language
Native Language
Chinese
Home Country
Malaysia
Current Location
Malaysia
Be careful, he’s got a pretty violent temper.

Isn't that a run-on sentence?
 

kadioguy

Key Member
Joined
Mar 4, 2017
Member Type
Student or Learner
Native Language
Chinese
Home Country
Taiwan
Current Location
Taiwan
Isn't that a run-on sentence?
It is, but I see it as in a conversation, where [FONT=Verdana, Arial, Tahoma, Calibri, Geneva, sans-serif]run-on sentences often [/FONT]happen[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Tahoma, Calibri, Geneva, sans-serif].[/FONT]
 

Rover_KE

Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Jun 20, 2010
Member Type
Retired English Teacher
Native Language
British English
Home Country
England
Current Location
England
It is, but I see it as in a conversation, where run-on sentences often happen.
No. they don't. You don't hear punctuation when you're listening to a conversation; they happen when you're transcribing a conversation and use a comma instead of a semicolon or a full stop/period.
 

kadioguy

Key Member
Joined
Mar 4, 2017
Member Type
Student or Learner
Native Language
Chinese
Home Country
Taiwan
Current Location
Taiwan
You don't hear punctuation when you're listening to a conversation; they happen when you're transcribing a conversation and use a comma instead of a semicolon or a full stop/period.
Thank you, Rover_KE.:)

[FONT=Tahoma, Calibri, Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif][/FONT][FONT=Tahoma, Calibri, Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif]A.[/FONT][FONT=Tahoma, Calibri, Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif]You don't hear punctuation when you're listening to a conversation.[/FONT]
B. You can't hear punctuation when you're listening to a conversation.
[FONT=Tahoma, Calibri, Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif]
What is the difference in meaning between them?[/FONT]
 

Rover_KE

Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Jun 20, 2010
Member Type
Retired English Teacher
Native Language
British English
Home Country
England
Current Location
England
There's no difference.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top