Why is "have got" more correct than "got"

I was just wondering this. It seems to me that "have got", predominantly in BE but also in AE seems to be felt as more "correct" than just "got", in the sense of "possess". I mean, it seems to me that "have got" is just considered less formal than "have", whereas "got" is considered completely colloquial.

Now I don't get why? They're both equally wrong! After all, have got is the Present Perfect of "get" used as a substitution for "have", whereas got is just the Past Simple of "get". Then how come the first is considered less informal, even though it is as incorrect? Is it because it originated in the UK, where the Present Perfect seems to be more used, and then that impression just made its way to the US?

North American English:
I have a book. (Formal)
I've gotten several books over the years. (Formal)
I've got a book. (Semi-formal. Probably slightly less likely to be found in print, but alternates with "I have a book" in speech.)
Who has a book? Lil' Charlie: I got a book! (colloquial)

British English (please correct if wrong)
I have a book. (Archaic)
I've a book (U)
I've got a book. (Formal now, but non-U)
I've gotten a book (Something you'd see in a 19th cent. book, but probably not used today.)
I got a book. (I don't know if they use it.)

The book has been gotten and forgotten.
The book has been got and forgot.

"I have a book. (Archaic)"

How is this in the least bit archaic?

"I have something" and "I have got something" are pretty interchangeable in all varieties of English, and neither is more correct or formal than the other.

I think it's more "I got something" and "I have got something" where the issue arises -- when both are used in the present tense, anyway. It is less correct and more colloquial to drop the "have" and say something like "Yeah, I think I got a quarter in my pocket." The formal version is "I think I've got a quarter in my pocket." The fact that the "I have got" usually gets contracted to "I've got" is what probably encourages people to reduce it all the way to the similar-sounding "I got".

This changes when you switch to past tense, though -- it's perfectly correct to say "I got arrested yesterday." And Americans will switch "have got" to "have gotten" when speaking of the past, while other dialects no longer have the word "gotten" and just use "have got" for both past and present.

I've got something to tell you......I'd rather say it that way as "I got something to tell you" sounds not only grammatically incorrect but sloppily incomplete as well. "I got" may well be more acceptable and more widely used in Kentucky than it is in Kent, that's for sure.

Anyway, this is what I've got to tell you.....it's about one of the finest of exports to come out of Canada - British Columbia to be more precise.......by the name of Michael Buble (sorry, no acute accent available right now but it rhymes with "Boo-blay") and it seems as if he's been very popular here in the UK for a long time now...the guy is now 35 years old after all but looks quite well on it if a wee bit chubby at times...what a bitch I am......

He's setting out on a UK wide tour later this year (including a lengthy run at the Wembley Arena in north west London) before going over to the Continent......and his words here simply say: "I've got you under my skin".....so if Canadian Michael says it that way then it must be the right way.....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SIxoMYRfdq0

Checking out song titles beginning with "I've got" or "I got" I see that there is one which goes "I got rhythm".......you takes your choice I guess....which ever suits your style.

To say "I have a book" is not at all archaic in the UK.
I hardly ever use "have got" when I can say "have" instead.

<Now I don't get why? They're both equally wrong! After all, have got is the Present Perfect of "get" used as a substitution for "have", whereas got is just the Past Simple of "get". >

"I have got" is not "wrong". "I have got" is used to mean "I have"; but in derivation, it means "I have acquired".

If you "have" something, you "acquired" it in the past. So, for example, "I have got a cold" = "I have acquired a cold".

This also explains why the present perfect is correct, but not the past simple. The present perfect usually expresses a link between the present and the past, while the past tense usually doesn't. And if you say "I have got something", the past "getting" is linked to the present "having".

Because all American people and 50% British people use 'have got' in speaking. And the rest of British almost just use 'got' in writing, especially in legal papers.

Because all American people and 50% British people use 'have got' in speaking. And the rest of British almost just use 'got' in writing, especially in legal papers.

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