gotten

gotten — verb

1. the form of the verb 'get' that follows 'have', 'has', or 'had' to build perfect

1.verbtransitive / intransitiveB1
Definition

the form of the verb 'get' that follows 'have', 'has', or 'had' to build perfect-tense expressions. It is the usual past participle in American English; British English uses 'got' instead for this purpose. For instance: 'The weather has gotten colder this week' (US) — a British speaker would say 'The weather has got colder this week'.

Example

Lucía has gotten much better at playing the piano since she started taking lessons.

pattern: has gotten + comparative adjective (better)

Asher has gotten used to the cold weather after moving to Canada last year.

pattern: has gotten + used to + noun phrase

Common collocations
  • gotten used to
  • gotten better / worse
  • gotten into trouble
  • gotten hold of
  • gotten rid of

Grammar Patterns

have/has gotten + comparative adjective

have/has gotten + used to + noun phrase

have/has gotten + past participle (passive construction)

Usage Note

This sense is the standard past participle in American English for nearly all meanings of 'get'. In British English, 'got' fills this role instead (e.g. 'She has got promoted'). However, both varieties use 'have got' to mean 'possess' or 'must' — and in that fixed expression 'gotten' never appears, even in US English. British English does preserve 'gotten' in one fossilized phrase: 'ill-gotten gains'.

Common Mistakes

She has gotten to go now.
She has got to go now.
The expression 'have got to' (meaning 'must') always uses 'got', never 'gotten', even in American English.
I have gotten a cold last week.
I got a cold last week.
'Gotten' is for perfect tenses (have/has/had + gotten); for a finished past event at a specific time, use the simple past 'got'.

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: verb/1

Both 'gotten' and 'got' can serve as the past participle of 'get', but they differ by region and by the specific expression. In American English, 'gotten' is the standard past participle for most meanings: 'She has gotten a promotion', 'He has gotten better', 'They have gotten lost'. British English uses 'got' for these same meanings: 'She has got a promotion', 'He has got better'. However, in the expression 'have got' meaning 'possess' or 'must', speakers of both varieties use 'got', never 'gotten'. An American who says 'I have gotten a car' means they recently obtained one, whereas 'I have got a car' simply means they own one — a subtle but meaningful distinction.

gotten ↗got

Etymology

Old EnglishMiddle EnglishAmerican English

'Gotten' is the original past participle of 'get', passed down from Old English 'giten' or 'gieten'. It was once standard in both British and American English. During the 18th and 19th centuries, British English gradually replaced it with 'got' in most contexts, while American English preserved the older form. The word traces back to a Proto-Germanic root *getaną, meaning 'to obtain', and is related to Old Norse 'geta' and German 'bekommen'.