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I know that normally in American English we use "gotten" after has/have but in this type of construction, do Americans say "got" or "gotten"? As in

"I have got to sing"
or
"I have gotten to sing"?

Mari-Lou A
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Bilal Zafar
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    I'll leave it to an AmE speaker to give you an answer, but in my experience, in AmE the perfect of get to (= "have the opportunity to, have the benefit of doing") is have gotten to while the present of have got to (= "be obliged to") is have got to. In BrE they are both have got to and ambiguity can arise. – Colin Fine Feb 10 '22 at 18:21
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    I have got/have to do this, I must do this= are the same in BrE and AmE. Now, the confusion comes from the fact that: the present tense of have got [which is the same as have to: have has two present tense forms in English] and the BrE present perfect: "have got" are the same thing. For example: He has got a lot of goals recently. [BrE] and He has gotten a lot of goals recently. [AmE] – Lambie Feb 10 '22 at 18:39
  • @ Colin Fine and Lambie so in BrE " I have got to sing" could mean an obligation or I have been able to sing already. Am I interpreting you right? – Bilal Zafar Feb 10 '22 at 18:44
  • I remember listening to an American who lived in the UK talking about the benefits she'd had from something, and saying "I've got to ... I've got to ... " In her former life she would have said "I've gotten to ... ", but she translated that into BrE - causing confusion because that is a much less common meaning than "I have to". – Colin Fine Feb 10 '22 at 22:48
  • @Colin Fine.I BrE. Can past tense instead of present perfect tense also express opportunity which is availed eg i got to eat burger( I ate burger) – Bilal Zafar Feb 11 '22 at 08:02
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    "I went to a concert and got to meet my favourite singer" = I had (and took) the opportunity to meet them. But we wouldn't use I have got to in this sense. – Kate Bunting Feb 11 '22 at 09:16
  • @kate bunting but the first comment from Colin Fine says that "I have got to" can also be used as opportunity. Kindly refer to his comment and enlighten me. – Bilal Zafar Feb 11 '22 at 11:52
  • @BilalZafar: I have got to is rare in this sense, exactly because the "have to sense" is so much more common. But it can occur in a context where for some reason the "get to" meaning is expected. For example, if somebody is asked "What have you been able to do while you've been here", they might answer with "Well, I've got to ... " without being misunderstood. – Colin Fine Feb 11 '22 at 12:41
  • @Colin Fine cheera but i did not understand what do you mean by"have to sense" is more common? What has "have to sense" to do with opportunity which i already availed. – Bilal Zafar Feb 11 '22 at 13:00
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    Sorry, I got my quotes in the wrong place. I meant the "have to" sense - the meaning which is like "have to" (as opposed to the meaning like "have an opportunity") – Colin Fine Feb 11 '22 at 13:12
  • @Colin Fine i appreciate :) – Bilal Zafar Feb 11 '22 at 13:16
  • @Kate bunting @ Colin Fine @ Lambie "I got to meet my favourite singer" refers to ( I had the opportunity to meet him) but it is not compulsory that i actually met him. Am i right? – Bilal Zafar Feb 12 '22 at 08:44
  • @Colin Fine as you said that i got to sing is preferable over "I have got to sing" in the sense of talking about opportunity but just in case if i use "I have got to sing" then would "have got" refers to opportunity I "have" or opportunity I "acquired"/"received"? – Bilal Zafar Feb 12 '22 at 08:50
  • @Collin Fine @ Lambie as you said that i got to sing is preferable over "I have got to sing" in the sense of talking about opportunity but just in case if i use "I have got to sing" then would "have got" refers to opportunity I "have" or opportunity I "acquired"/"received"? – Bilal Zafar Feb 12 '22 at 08:52
  • Yes, I got to meet him implies that you did meet him (that's why I added and took). – Kate Bunting Feb 12 '22 at 09:08
  • @Kate Bunting but according to MarclnManhattan "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. Their is a link: https://ell.stackexchange.com/questions/303060/i-had-got-to-eat-burger/303062?noredirect=1#comment579671_303062

     – Bilal Zafar Feb 12 '22 at 09:53
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    Well, I would disagree. To me, I got to [do something] means that you were able to do it thanks to a welcome, and perhaps unexpected, opportunity. – Kate Bunting Feb 12 '22 at 10:17
  • Cheers and I reckon same goes for "I got to know him" which indicates "I actually came to know him" – Bilal Zafar Feb 12 '22 at 10:38
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    Yes, @BilalZafar, you're right that I got to know him means the same as I came to know him; but please note that this is a different meaning of get to from the one we have been discussing. This is used with verbs like know and understand, and means something like become accustomed to or become able to, and has no sense of an opportunity about it. – Colin Fine Feb 12 '22 at 12:55

2 Answers2

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Exactly as Colin Fine said, both could be used and they have very different meanings in American English.

I have got to sing means I must sing—I have an obligation or a need or a drive to sing. It is a present-tense expression of need.

I have gotten to sing means I have had the opportunity to sing. Note that this is the past tense now—we are describing an opportunity that existed at one point in the past.

randomhead
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I got one answer from MarcinManhattan on my other thread which I am adding here. He said the same as you both said. "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

Bilal Zafar
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    Bilal, randomhead already said that. I have gotten to go the party=to have the opportunity to go to the party. Not really: been able to. – Lambie Feb 10 '22 at 18:42
  • What other thread? Do you mean "question"? – Mari-Lou A Feb 10 '22 at 18:47
  • @Mari-Lou A. Yes i meant question. – Bilal Zafar Feb 10 '22 at 18:49
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    I did a little hunting via your profile page, EDIT the post is here https://ell.stackexchange.com/questions/303060/i-had-got-to-eat-burger it's always a good idea to post the link, it gives more context. Often users copy comments and add links, it helps avoid confusion. – Mari-Lou A Feb 10 '22 at 18:50