To use 'Gotten' or not...

Curious Scot

What are your views on the use of the word 'Gotten'?

**See Poll above - it should be 'Gotten' instead of 'Cotten'(fixed)! **

looksee

While on the face of it, gotten is the American alternative to got, it's not quite as clear-cut as that. I do not use 'gotten' but it does make sense and in the appropriate sentence is a better 'fit', the main objection is that it sounds 'American'. Someone else can explain past participles and stuff.

Harry Palmr

It's an abomination.

is_that_so

Yeah it's that past participle favoured by Americans but it does come from Middle English and American English contains quite a few remnants of old forms and grammar. They also see a difference between the two, with gotten being this part participle and got is to do with possession.

EDIT: Here's a longish piece on the history of it!

https://stroppyeditor.wordpress.com/2017/03/27/the-us-has-gotten-this-word-back-and-the-uk-probably-will-too/

looksee

Alfred Ayres in The Verbalist (1881) agreed: “If we say eaten, written, striven, forgotten, why not say gotten, where this form of the participle is more euphonious – as it often is – than got?”

Quote from the link above, yes, agreed, and what I was vaguely thinking. I like that word euphonious, I should remember to use it.

Curious Scot

**See Poll above - it should be 'Gotten' instead of 'Cotten'(fixed)! **

Thanks, Looksee!:)