Level: Low Intermediate and Up
Pair with the Songs: “You Gotta Be” (Des’ree, 1994)
Recommended Video: the official video for “You Gotta Be”

In informal speech, got to is often pronounced gotta. The ‘ve is often dropped in I’ve, you’ve, they’ve, and we’ve, as in the song “You Gotta Be.” The interactive exercise below appears to be simple, but there are layers of understanding behind it: Students need to know that I’ve got to means I have to or I need to, and then understand that gotta is substituted for ‘ve got to only in spoken English. You also might want to point out that have got to has no past-tense form and isn’t used in negatives or questions; instead, a form of have to is used. For example: I had to go home, I don’t have to go home, Do you have to go home?  For these reasons, the activity works best for levels low intermediate and up. Permission is granted to reproduce for classroom use. More activities are in the Lesson Plan for this song.

gotta.docx          gotta.pdf          gotta (webpage)

Preview:

I GOTTA

A.  Read the sentences below. They have basically the same meaning.

1. I need to go now.
2. I have to go now.
3. I’ve got to go now.

In spoken English, I’ve got to (Sentence 3) is often pronounced “I’ve gotta” or “I gotta.”

B.  With a partner, practice using I gotta in the conversations below. Take turns being Person 1 and Person 2. There are many possible ways to complete the sentences. (Remember: Gotta is used in spoken English, but not in formal writing.)

1. Person 1: Are you leaving now?
Person 2: Yeah.¹ I gotta go to the grocery store. I gotta buy ____________________.
2. Person 1: Are you leaving now?
Person 2: Yeah. I gotta go to the drugstore. I gotta buy ____________________.
3. Person 1: Are you leaving now?
Person 2: Yeah. I gotta go to the mall. I gotta buy ____________________.
4. Person 1: Are you leaving now?
Person 2: Yeah. I gotta go to the post office. I gotta ____________________.
5. Person 1: Are you leaving now?
Person 2: Yeah. I gotta go to the bank. I gotta ____________________.
6. Person 1: Are you leaving now?
Person 2: Yeah. I gotta go home. I gotta ____________________.
7. Person 1: Are you leaving now?
Person 2: Yeah. I gotta go to __________________ (a place in your city). I gotta __________________.

¹Yeah = Yes. Yeah is used in informal spoken English.

Copyright © 2016 Sandra Heyer. All rights reserved. Permission granted to reproduce for classroom use.
Image: Copyright © Alain Lacroix | Dreamstime. Reprinted with permission.