I think ‘got’ sounds better, but I’d rather my sentence be correct than pretty.
My sentence: The things she’d told him couldn’t be got out of her by just anyone.
Is ‘got’ correct or should I use ‘gotten’?
6
-
1"Gotten" sounds much more natural to me in that sentence.– nnnnnnOct 3, 2019 at 10:15
-
1"Gotten" sounds unnatural in British English.– Weather VaneOct 3, 2019 at 10:25
-
1You need a tag to specify whether you are asking about American or British English. Gotten is regarded as archaic in British English.– Kate BuntingOct 3, 2019 at 12:23
-
1Gotten is not British English so I have tagged it American English. @KateBunting says it is regarded as archaic — I would say it is obsolete as British English. I was not aware that Shakespeare ever used it, although this site puts me right on that. It also quotes the Coverdale Bible, but I am not aware that it is in the KJV Bible.– DavidOct 3, 2019 at 16:50
-
@WeatherVane In RP English maybe, but since I moved to Merseyside, I’ve gotten used to hearing ‘gotten’.– David GarnerOct 3, 2019 at 20:01
|
Show 1 more comment
1 Answer
The things she had told him couldn't be got out of her by just anyone.
It is just a matter of usage. Both are correct.
The Americans might use gotten and the British might use got. But gotten is slowly creeping into the British Usage too.
Here is a link to show the difference.
https://jakubmarian.com/got-vs-gotten-in-english/
Here is another link to make things clear.
answered Oct 3, 2019 at 12:26
-
1+1 for a good and correct answer. But, links often break. It's best to quote directly the portion of the linked material you wish to highlight in addition to that link.– David MOct 3, 2019 at 13:08
-
1@JVL I appreciate the helpful links. I’m American, but since this is a sentence from a novel I’m writing and it seems that whether or not this is frowned at all depends on who’s reading it, I think I’ll keep it as is. My concern was whether or not I’d made a blatant mistake. Oddly enough, as I said, I liked the sentence with ‘got’ better, but something was tickling at the back of my brain that said it might make others scratch their heads.– MooNieuOct 3, 2019 at 21:20