I can’t find the clitic.
Comment on English is weird
guy@lemmy.world 11 months ago
In the sentence “you have a problem”, “have” is the main verb. When reduced to the clitic “'ve”, it becomes a weak form and is only expected to be used as an auxiliary verb. These types of verbs must be followed by the main verb. “a” is not a verb. Thus, we insert “got”.
If we do not insert “got”, the stress in the sentence moves and it sounds overly affected.
Why this is the case here and not for other verbs, like in “You’re a man”, I’m not too sure though.
UndercoverGranny@lemmy.world 11 months ago
rhythmisaprancer@kbin.social 11 months ago
To add to this, "have got" is perfect tense. "You're a man" is different because "are" isn't an auxiliary verb here, it is just added to "you" as a contraction. That phrase would probably be an existential clause.
I miss World Wide Words!
reddig33@lemmy.world 11 months ago
🏆