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freddie
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I agree
when it refers to possession it is usually not used in past tenses. Even in reported speech I wouldn`t go one tense back as it is a general truth and so no tense change.
But `got ` has other uses/meanings : `arrived ` as in the above example, `received` as in Libertybelle`s example, then of course it could be used in the past or past perfect,
Another example would be` had got` (or in American English ``had gotten`) as in `had bought` or had acquired`.
He had got the dog before he knew that he was allergic to it.
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23 Feb 2009
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Jayho
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Hi
I checked my grammar book, Grammar for English Language Teachers, and Parrot says that we use have got mainly in the present tense but that it is possible to use it in the past tense
e.g. They thought they �d got to sign the contract right there and then ( ... thought they had to ...)
he says that in spoken and informal English people use have/had got to as an alternative to have to. Now that I think about I do this a lot.
Cheers
Jayho |
23 Feb 2009
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Zora
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Well, I never use it because it sounds so strange and wrong to me... I think Canadians and Americans do not use that form - simply because we don �t actually use "have got" as much as Brits do... we prefer to use "have" more... 
Though, you �re example is not actually "have got" as in "possess"... it is I �d say more the meaning, "would have got to" - be allowed to - and not what we were saying about - for example: "Tom "had got" a cat at home..." < SOOO wrong to me!
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24 Feb 2009
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