If the verb "got" means "have" (as in "I got something to do"), is it a past tense or present tense? [closed]
Solution 1:
"I got something to do, don't I?"
is non-standard English for:
-
I've got something to do, haven't I?
OR - I have something to do, don't I?
Both those mean the exact same thing: the verb have has two simple present forms.
Bear in mind:
I got something at that store. Got there means buy.
I got your socks at that store, didn't I? got is simple past there.
the verb get can mean many other things as well.
The non-standard form: I got something to do, don't I? would be considered present. The tag is "don't I" and it is present simple tense.
The past tense of the expression: have/have got something to do is: had something to do and the tag is "did or didn't".
- I had something to do, didn't I?
Bear in mind: non-standard here does not qualify the speaker. It merely is an identification tool in terms of sociolect. And it is not just AmE.
BBC ENGLISH
Note the way in which we form short answers and question tags with have got and have:
- Have you got a sore throat as well as a runny nose?
- No, I haven’t.
- But you’ve got a high temperature, haven’t you?
Yes, I have.
Does this music school have enough pianos?
- No, it doesn’t.
- But you have enough opportunities to practise, don’t you?
- No, we don’t.
BBC ENGLISH
The examples above apply to AmE also.
Solution 2:
I have to do the report
The verb "have (got) to" expresses obligation, it is similar in meaning to must. The verb have to is not an auxiliary, it is a MAIN verb and as such can be used in all tenses: I will have (got) to [pure future], I have (got) to [present], I had (got) to [simple past] I have had to [present perfect], I had had to [past perfect] etc.
If the main clause is in the affirmative, the tag question will normally be in the negative, the correct auxiliary in this case is do
I have (got) to do the report, don't I?
In American slang, have can be replaced by got
I got to do the report, don't I?
Collins Dictionary says
People sometimes use have got to in order to emphasize that they are certain that something is true, because of the facts or circumstances involved. In informal American English, the 'have' is sometimes omitted.
- See, you got to work very hard.
- We'll do what we got to do.
The simple past equivalent of “have got to” with its corresponding question tag, would be
I had got to do the report, hadn't I?
From A Grammar of English Words (1938) By Harold E. Palmer [emphasis mine]
I had to do this [I had got to do this, It was compulsory that I should do this] (I had not yet done it).