They also say that this use for possession is mainly in - again in BrE 'I have a rash' means exactly the same as 'I have got a rash' - 'have got' is simply an alternative present tense of 'have' (Shaw - Practical English - spot on, as usual. Both Oxford and Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionaries list 'have got' under 'have', not 'get'. So - not in BrE at least, where 'I've got a car' means 'I possess a car', whereas 'I've just got a car' means 'I've just obtained a car'. Most of us use redundancy the whole time in spoken language. Why can't people simply enjoy using the language we all speak, and the choices we have in formulating it, without constantly looking for so-called errors. Second, I confess I cannot understand this current obsession with redundancy. I imagine that this was the origin of many irregular forms. I suspect, but have no scientific evidence to back this up, that very often when we have a choice, between 'which' or 'that' for example, we go for the one which involves the least mouth movement. The second is more efficient (we don't have to open wide for the 'a' sound in have, everything goes smoothly forward). Say 'I have a car' and then 'I've got a car', and notice how your mouth moves. Just like we saw in our analysis of grammar vs grammer, small spelling changes can make a huge difference.First, I suggest you do a little experiment.
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