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I know "I had had to eat burger" is the "past perfect tense" and "I had to eat burger" is "simple past tense" and we normally not use "got" in the same sentence structure as in "I had got to eat burger" but if i use "got", Would the sentence be considered "past perfect tense" or " simple past tense"?

Laurel
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Bilal Zafar
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  • The phrase "I had got to eat" is bad grammar, and it's not clear what you mean. Is it supposed to be the past of "I have got to eat", as in, "I need to eat", or the past perfect of "I have gotten to eat", as in, "I have been able to eat"? – gotube Feb 06 '22 at 03:22
  • May i know If americans say "I have got to eat" or "I have gotten to eat"? (As in present perfect) – Bilal Zafar Feb 10 '22 at 17:41
  • North Americans (I'm Canadian) say, "I have got to eat" to mean "I need to eat". "I have gotten to eat" is also a possible but uncommon sentence that means something like, "I have been able to eat" – gotube Feb 10 '22 at 19:04
  • @gotube Do you not think "I have gotten to eat" means I have had the opportunity to eat. Note that this is the past tense now—we are describing an opportunity that existed at one point in the past. So how could " I have gotten to eat" =" I have been able to eat"? – Bilal Zafar Feb 10 '22 at 19:17
  • @gotube I got little confused. When you say "I have gotten to eat" does it actually mean "I have been able to eat" which is actually describing my capability as in"I became capable of eating a burger" Or "I had the opportunity of eating a burger"and i actually availed it as in i actually ate the burger. – Bilal Zafar Feb 10 '22 at 19:24
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    The opportunity -- I actually ate the burger – gotube Feb 10 '22 at 19:40

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I think that you are asking two different questions. The first is whether you can use the "to have" + "got" construction in different tenses:

Past: I had got to . . .
Present: I have got to . . .
Future: I will have got to . . .

The answer is no, the past and future versions are not normally used. Only the present version ("I have got to . . .") is used, and even then it is considered quite informal (as you point out).

The second question I think you are asking is whether this would be considered the simple present tense or present perfect tense. You might get some different opinions about this, but because it follows the typical structure for the perfect aspect ("to have" + past participle), I would describe this as present perfect. (Note that "gotten" is the more usual past participle of "to get", but "got" is used exclusively in this construction.)

Finally, your sentence is missing a determiner for burger. It should be:

"I have got to eat a burger." (Or "that burger", "my burger", etc.)

MarcInManhattan
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    The verb form "to get to do something" - meaning that an opportunity arose to do something, e.g. I got to go to the party (used much more in America than the UK) can easily become confused with the adverbial "got" e.g I have got to go to the party. They mean two entirely different things. If you try to use the former with one of the perfect tenses it is indistinguishable from the latter. Americans overcome this by using the participle "gotten". We in Britain never do. We only use that form if it is for something special. "I had got to see the President" has two quite different meanings. – WS2 Jan 04 '22 at 07:54
  • ...which only context can unravel. – WS2 Jan 04 '22 at 08:59
  • @WS2 Yes, you're right, I forgot about the US/UK difference with "gotten" (although I think that it is used in some UK dialects). Thank you for pointing that out. – MarcInManhattan Jan 04 '22 at 20:48
  • @WS2 do you not hink that americans will still use "got" instead of "gotten" in this type of construction. eg "I have got to go to the party" instead of "I have gotten to go to the party" because here "I have got to" refers to must/should) – Bilal Zafar Feb 10 '22 at 17:52
  • @MarcinManhattan do you not think that americans will still use got instead of gotten in this type of construction?. eg "I have got to go to the party" instead of "I have gotten to go to the party" where "I have got to" refers to must/should). – Bilal Zafar Feb 10 '22 at 17:52
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    @BilalZafar In the U.S., "I have got to go to the party" means "I have to go to the party" (present time). "I have gotten to go to the party" means "I have been able to go to the party" (present perfect). – MarcInManhattan Feb 10 '22 at 18:23
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    @ MarcinManhattan Thank you. All cleared now :) – Bilal Zafar Feb 10 '22 at 18:26
  • @MarcinManhattan.Do you not think "I have gotten to eat" means I have had the opportunity to eat. Note that this is the past tense now—we are describing an opportunity that existed at one point in the past. So how could " I have gotten to eat" is ="I have been able to eat". Does "i have gotten to eat" mean "I have been able to eat" which is actually describing my capability as in "I became capable of eating a burger" Or "I had the opportunity of eating a burger"and i actually availed it as in I actually ate the burger. – Bilal Zafar Feb 10 '22 at 19:27
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    @BilalZafar I saw the comment on the other question (https://ell.stackexchange.com/questions/309358/i-have-got-to-sing-or-i-have-gotten-to-sing), and I agree that randomhead's interpretation is better than mine. I.e., "I have had the opportunity to go to the party" better describes the meaning than "I have been able to go to the party". – MarcInManhattan Feb 10 '22 at 20:20
  • @MarclnNanhattan thank you for correcting and keeping me updated :) – Bilal Zafar Feb 10 '22 at 20:34
  • @MarcinManhattan In AmE, instead of present perfect tense can i express opportunity which i availed as past tense eg " i Got to go to the party" (i went to the party) – Bilal Zafar Feb 11 '22 at 08:06
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    @BilalZafar "I got to go to the party" means "I had the opportunity to go to the party". It doesn't necessarily mean that you went. – MarcInManhattan Feb 11 '22 at 20:26
  • @MarclnManhattan but according to Kate bunting" I got to meet him implies that you did meet him (that's why he added the word "took" to refer to an opportunity which i took to meet him) in his earlier comment

    – Kate Bunting. https://ell.stackexchange.com/questions/309358/i-have-got-to-sing-or-i-have-gotten-to-sing?noredirect=1#comment579728_309358

     – Bilal Zafar Feb 12 '22 at 09:59
  • @MarclnManhattan "I got to know him" it implies that I actually came to know him and we cannot say that we did not necessarily get to know him. What do you reckon? – Bilal Zafar Feb 12 '22 at 10:04
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    @BilalZafar “To get to know” someone is a set phrase. The meaning of “get” there is different from its meaning in “I got to go to the party.” However, this comment thread is getting long, so perhaps it would best to ask a new question? – MarcInManhattan Feb 12 '22 at 11:31