GOT TO comes from HAVE GOT TO which is a variation of HAVE TO, and all three are used when talking about OBLIGATION. They are similar to MUST in meaning.
If your wife, husband, mother, father or doctor tells you to go to the dentist, you are obliged to do it. Then you may say:
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- I have to go to the dentist.
- I have got to go to the dentist.
- I got to go to the dentist.
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Is there a difference?
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Yes, there is.
In formal writing, the preferred form is โhave toโ. โHave got toโ sounds more informal and โgot toโ sounds more American. You may even see it spelt as โgottaโ in informal contexts such as comic strips.
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Here are some examples for you:
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- I have to fix the time machine, otherwise, weโll be stuck here in the 1st century BC.
- Iโve got to fix the time machine, otherwise, weโll be stuck here in the 1st century BC.
- I got to fix the time machine, otherwise, weโll be stuck here in the 1st century BC.
- Do you have to fix the time machine to get us back to the 21st century?
- Have you got to fix the time machine to get us back to the 21st century?
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note: do you have to / donโt have to are the preferred forms for interrogatives and negatives
Some more examples:
- I have to talk to Dr Who first.
- Why do you have to talk to him?
- Iโve got to ask you a few questions before I say yes.
- I donโt have to answer your questions, youโre not my mum.
- She doesnโt have to answer your questions, youโre not her mum.
- We donโt have to live in the 1st century BC if we donโt want to.
- Weโve got to go back and talk to Julius Ceasar.
- Heโs got to help us.
- Why does he have to help us?
- A manโs gotta do what a manโs gotta do.
- Well, I got to go now.
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To learn more about the differences between HAVE TO and MUST, click here:
I had to or I must? What is the difference?
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