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Get vs Gets
Main Post:
Call me an idiot but I’m just not getting the actual reason to use one over the other. I just use what I know sounds right. Except for when I don’t.
Please help me with this sentence and tell me why I use one over the other (in a way I can understand?)
Best case scenario, it is one of the decoy teams that get/gets attacked.
I’m going with ‘gets?’ 😖
Save me, r/grammar!
Top Comment: Your sentence is an example of a well-known pattern ("one of the X who/that..."). This sentence structure is one that can be parsed in different ways. [1] Best case scenario, it is one [of the decoy teams] that gets attacked. [2] Best case scenario, it is one of [the decoy teams that get attacked]. There is also a 3rd pattern that often happens. The sentence is parsed with the meaning of [2], but the influence/strength of the word "one" causes people to override ("teams get") and still say "gets". [3] Best case scenario, it is one of [the decoy teams that ~~get~~gets attacked]. If you are studying ESL, this "singular override" pattern [3] might be marked on tests as "incorrect." But in the real world, native English speakers do speak this way. That is why [if you are a native English speaker], you might feel that "gets" sounds better, but when you stop and try to parse the sentence logically, it doesn't seem to fit your expectations. ["When I look at it, it seems like (teams - get) should fit, but 'gets' sounds more natural when I say it out loud."] TL;DR: After expressions using "one of the...", singular and plural verbs are both used in relative clauses beginning who or that. (get/gets) can be interpreted as referring back to "teams" or "one".
Is "gets" an actual slang or is it just my community?
Main Post:
People around me have recently started saying things like that "gets?" (as in, "get it?") or "i gets" (as in, "i get it"). Is it just the people around me, or is it an actual nationally-recognised(?) slang? I've even heard "gots", as in "i got it". And I gotta admit, it's pretty catchy. Have you guys heard it before?
Top Comment: It’s just like saying “I fucks with it” makes no sense, but I gets it, ya know?
Is 'gotten' a forgotten past participle of 'got'
Main Post:
I was reading through a recent cross post on archaic English terms in American English and came across a comment on 'gotten'. As a Brit, I've always used this as a past participle like 'I'd gotten home to find I'd been burgled' rather than, 'I got home to find I'd been burgled'. Two different meanings, especially regarding the 'time stamp' of the event in reference to the speaker.
OED says 'gotten' is Middle English but has been abandoned by British English. Did we loose a past participle?
Top Comment: As an American, I’d say: I got home to find I’d been burgled. I had gotten home to find I’d been burgled. So exactly the same as you.