# How many members has your family got



## Pirulo1234

Hi! 

I would like to know if the following sentence is correct or not:

_How many members has your family got?
_
Would it be correct? I've read that it's incorrect, but I don't know why... I use to read sentences like "Have you got a cat?" or "Has your sister got a brush?".

Thanks!


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## cor1n

No, it's not! Don't say "it has got''... that it not correct in any context. ''I got..." is past tense, such as ''I got pulled over'' or ''I got oranges at the store today''.

''Have you got a cat?'' and ''Has your sister got a brush?'' are both incorrect, and no one would say that.
''Do you have a cat?'' and ''Does your sister have a brush?'' are correct.

For your sentence you should say *"How many people are in your family?" (this is best)* or *''How many family members do you have?'' (a little strange but still ok).* If you say ''How many members does your family have?'' it is correct but sounds weird.


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## Pirulo1234

> ''Have you got a cat?'' and ''Has your sister got a brush?'' are both incorrect, and no one would say that.



Really?


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## abb1025

"Have you got a cat?" and "Has your sister got a brush?" are less common in the U.S. than cor1n's versions, but they are perfectly correct, and if I'm not mistaken that construction is quite common in the U.K.


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## Pirulo1234

abb1025 said:


> "Have you got a cat?" and "Has your sister got a brush?" are less common in the U.S. than cor1n's versions, but they are perfectly correct, and if I'm not mistaken that construction is quite common in the U.K.




And what do you think about the original sentence of this thread? That is to say, about "how many members has your family got"?


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## abb1025

I forgot to address that. I would not use how many members has your family got?

 I can't find any grammar mistakes in it, but it just doesn't sound right to me. How many people are in your family? is the way I would say it.


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## cor1n

Sorry, now that I think about it I guess you could say "Have you got a cat?" and "Has your sister got a brush?" but they are slang because you're using the word got in the present context.

In correct grammar, got is the past tense of get.
Did you get a cat?
Do you have a cat?

''How many members has your family got?'' sounds strange, but you could say that too... it's also slang though.

Sorry, I guess I didn't think of it in that way when reading it before.


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## kayokid

Hello. I don't object as strongly to the use of "got" in informal English as other native speakers.

If I want to write myself a note/fill out a form, etc. when I am not at home, for example, I often ask my wife:
"Have you got a pen in your purse/on you?" (= Do you have a pen in your purse/on you?). I see nothing wrong with this.

There are instances where the use of "got" becomes a bit cumbersome. This happens when the sentence becomes overly wordy especially with other elements of the sentence. Personally, I think this is the case with the original sentence and the 'how many.' 

On the other hand I see nothing wrong with 'got' in this sentence:
My family has got a lot of problems.


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## JennyTW

Excuse me, but in the UK "have got" is not informal, and CERTAINLY not slang. It is a completely correct and valid alternative to the verb "have" when talking about possession. It is also used quite extensively in the USA. 

Cor1n, what would you think if I said that "gotten" was slang, just because we don't use that form here? The English language originated in England but we accept that other regional differences are valid.

Anyway, to return the original question, "How many members has your family got?" is grammatically correct, but not idiomatic. I would prefer "How many people are there in your family?"


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## cor1n

I don't claim to speak British English.


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## Forero

I might ask "How many people do you have in your family?", but families are composed of members; they don't "have" members in any sense in which _have got_ would really make sense.


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## Gordo48

Interesting discussion.  While "got" and "gotten" are widely used in the U.S., we are--or used to be -- taught to avoid them and instead use more precise terms.  I have noticed that even well-educated English speakers use "got."   Not a big deal for non-native speakers learning English as they have bigger challenges to worry about.


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## Cenzontle

My English is American.  I can't say





> _How many members has your family got?_


but I can easily say "_How many *cars *has your family got?_"
Cars, pens, problems—these are things that you can "get" (well, we could argue about "getting" problems).
But family members are not usually thought of as something you can "get" (obtain).


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## duvija

Would you be opposed to use the original sentence if it had an exclamation point at the end? I mean, said by someone really surprised about the huge number of people showing up at a party, claiming to be relatives of a certain person? I don't feel it as a question.


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## Forero

duvija said:


> Would you be opposed to use the original sentence if it had an exclamation point at the end? I mean, said by someone really surprised about the huge number of people showing up at a party, claiming to be relatives of a certain person? I don't feel it as a question.


That makes sense to me. I think it could still be a question, albeit a bit "impolite".


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## Pirulo1234

Cenzontle said:


> My English is American. I can't say
> but I can easily say "_How many *cars *has your family got?_"
> Cars, pens, problems—these are things that you can "get" (well, we could argue about "getting" problems).
> But family members are not usually thought of as something you can "get" (obtain).





Forero said:


> I might ask "How many people do you have in your family?", but families are composed of members; they don't "have" members in any sense in which _have got_ would really make sense.



Well, when I say "I have got two brothers and three sisters", brothers and sisters are things I can "get". Isn't it?


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## Cenzontle

If my statement about "getting" family members is a problem, let me say it in another way:
cars and pens are things that you can own in a way that you don't own your brothers and sisters.
Okay, maybe I could say "I've got two brothers" in some circumstances, but it's not my usual way to say "I have two brothers."


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## Pirulo1234

Cenzontle said:


> If my statement about "getting" family members is a problem, let me say it in another way:
> cars and pens are things that you can own in a way that you don't own your brothers and sisters.
> Okay, maybe I could say "I've got two brothers" in some circumstances, but it's not my usual way to say "I have two brothers."



So, under your explanation, are you suggesting that it would be correct to say "How many members does your family have?"

On the other hand, wouldn't it be "have got" and "have" synonyms in this context? That is to say... I've read that "I have a pen" and "I have got a pen" mean the same. Isn't it?


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## JennyTW

Yes, of course they're synonyms. And all this business about "getting" family members is nonsense. 
"Have got" may seem a strange use of "got" to some Americans but it means EXACTLY the same as "have" (fir possession) in BE and every text book for teaching English that I've seen teaches it as the usual verb to express that. 

To be honest, I can't understand how Americans can say they don't also use it when there are SO many American song lyrics which include it with the same meaning as "have". 

I've got sunshine on a cloudy day. (My girl)

I've got you under my skin. 
I've got you deep in the heart of me. 

But there is something i've got, 
There is something i've got, (Ain't got no/I got life)

The title of this last song also demonstrates 2 typical trends in lyrics; the use of "ain't got" for "haven't got" and the omission of "have/ain't" (I got) with the meaning of "have".


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## Lis48

cor1n said:


> I guess you could say "Have you got a cat?" and "Has your sister got a brush?" but they are slang because you're using the word got in the present context.
> 
> In correct grammar, got is the past tense of get.
> Did you get a cat?
> Do you have a cat?



"Have you got a cat" is not considered slang in British English. 
"Got" is the present participle of the verb to get and nothing to do with "got" the past tense. It is the same construction as "Have you been to London?" and "been" of course is the participle not the past tense.
JennyTW is perfectly correct in her comments regarding British English. I see nothing wrong  grammatically with "How many members has your family got?" though it is a little awkward.
I would not consider it slang or incorrect at all.

So to answer the original question:
British English speakers would say it.
American English speakers would find it strange and use a different construction.


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## FromPA

Lis48 said:


> "Have you got a cat" is not considered slang in British English.
> "Got" is the present participle of the verb to get and nothing to do with "got" the past tense. It is the same construction as "Have you been to London?" and "been" of course is the participle not the past tense.
> JennyTW is perfectly correct in her comments regarding British English. I see nothing wrong  grammatically with "How many members has your family got?" though it is a little awkward.
> I would not consider it slang or incorrect at all.
> 
> So to answer the original question:
> British English speakers would say it.
> American English speakers would find it strange and use a different construction.



It wouldn't be my first choice, but it doesn't sound strange to me at all; it just sounds British.  I also think that the use of "have" when talking about membership is perfectly fine (how many members does the club/family/clan have?).  What seems strange to me in this thread is the strong objections of my fellow AE speakers.


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## Pirulo1234

Ok, so if "How many members has your family got" sounds a little awkward, what do you think about these alternative sentences?:

A) How many members does your family have?
B) How many members are in your family?
C) How many members are there in your family?


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## juan2937

JennyTW said:


> Excuse me, but in the UK "have got" is not informal, and CERTAINLY not slang. It is a completely correct and valid alternative to the verb "have" when talking about possession. It is also used quite extensively in the USA.
> 
> Cor1n, what would you think if I said that "gotten" was slang, just because we don't use that form here? The English language originated in England but we accept that other regional differences are valid.
> Anyway, to return the original question, "How many members has your family got?" is grammatically correct, but not idiomatic. I would prefer "How many people are there in your family?"



I'am not native nor British but your answer 'not idiomatic' is perfect, I think a forist has already stated that family *members are* *but not have*. It is a matter *of to be or not to be* a  member  of a family.


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## Gabriel

Members are, not have, ok. But families have (got) members, aren't members.

A person is or isn't a member of a family. But a family has (got) a given nuimber of members.


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## duvija

We are dealing with languages that don't differentiate between something ' inherently possessed' or not. Other smart people/languages have special morphemes to differentiate them. Of course, we have a clash of cultures. I was about to go do fieldwork in Yucatán for Maya studies, when I realized that for ' dog' you don't use a possessive form (they are not yours, but they belong to the group). Instead, ' turkeys' are definitely yours (?). And moreover, ' lice'  are inherently yours, which made me doubt about going to that area to spend 6 months. Needless to say, language is not perfect, and some possessives get lexicalized, without a real life explanation.


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## juan2937

Gabriel said:


> Members are, not have, ok. But families have (got) members, aren't members.
> A person is or isn't a member of a family. But a family has (got) a given nuimber of members.



*Counting members okay but to be a member you must be.*


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## Gabriel

Pirulo1234 said:


> Ok, so if "How many members has your family got" sounds a little awkward, what do you think about these alternative sentences?:
> 
> A) How many members does your family have?
> B) How many members are in your family?
> C) How many members are there in your family?


I like A and C and not B.

I also think that "How many members has your family got?" simply sounds British but has nothing wrong otherwise.


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## Gabriel

juan2937 said:


> *Counting members okay but to be a member you must be.*



Okay, but the original question is if it's okay to say that a family has got members.


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## juan2937

Gabriel said:


> Okay, but the original question is if it's okay to say that a family has got members.



When you ask about how many members are there in your family is okay also. But this is completely different to be a member or not.


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## cor1n

Really for me it just sounds weird to say ''members'' in that context. There are 5 people in my family, and I have 5 family members. I wouldn't say there are 5 members in my family. It sounds very formal and strange.


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## JennyTW

I think this thread is just going round in circles now. A family is not a club. So why don't we just forget "members"? The normal thing is to talk about how many people there are in a family.


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## Gordo48

Agree with JennyTW on the use of "member".  Setting aside the great transatlantic "got" controversy, I wonder if anyone else has a problem with the question itself and if it is therefore something  other than the grammar/vocabulary issues which give us pause.  Here's where I'm going with this: it's simply not a question I would ask of someone I didn't know well as it could be taken as a bit too inquisitive, not to mention hard to answer (whom do you count as a family "member" and who counts them anyway?).  I would probably only go so far as to ask, "Do you have large family?"  The person could then answer "yes" or "no," or give as many details as s/he wants.   If I knew someone well enough to be comfortable asking for a "member count," I think we might be beyond scrutinizing each other's grammar.


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## cor1n

I disagree. I don't consider a question about how many people are in one's family to be too personal. The person replying can choose to count whoever they want to.

It's a common type of question people are taught to ask when learning English or Spanish (or other languages, but I can't speak for those). Good small talk.


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## JennyTW

cor1n said:


> I disagree. I don't consider a question about how many people are in one's family to be too personal. The person replying can choose to count whoever they want to.
> 
> It's a common type of question people are taught to ask when learning English or Spanish (or other languages, but I can't speak for those). Good small talk.


Ok, but your choice of words is people, I see, not members.


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## Gabriel

For what it's worth, if I wanted to know the number of people in your family I would simply say "How many are you in your family"?

But that was not the question of this thread.


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