Learn English – Confused! Are there any differences between “I have to go”, “I had to go”, “I’ve had to go”, “I get to go”, “I got to go”, “I’ve got to go”

tense

I am Confused!

Are there any differences between "I have to go", "I had to go", "I've had to go", "I get to go", "I got to go", "I've got to go"?

In which situation is each term used?

I checked this dictionary http://www.ldoceonline.com/dictionary/get, & found that

get to do something: to have the opportunity to do something

Seem like if you have a opportunity to do something, then use "get".

The expression is in present but why we use present perfect tense (Ex: I've got to go) here?

Best Answer

It's not surprising these confuse you. There are actually three different idioms involved in your list, expressed in different combinations.

GET to VERB means, as you say, "HAVE the opportunity to VERB". 

         PRESENT: I get to go. = I have the opportunity to go. 
            PAST: I got to go. = I had the opportunity to go.   
 Pr/Past PERFECT: I have/had gotten to go. = I have/had the opportunity to go.
                  ('gotten' is US; in BrE this would be 'got')

HAVE to VERB means "must" (used nowadays only in the present tense) or "BE obliged to VERB". 

         PRESENT: I have to go. = I must go.  
            PAST: I had to go.  = I was obliged to go. 
 Pr/Past PERFECT: I have/had had to go = I have/had been obliged to go.

HAVE got is a replacement for "HAVE" in two uses: 1) the "possess" sense and 2) the "BE obliged" sense. It is used only in the present tense.

  1)    "Possess": I've got an old car. = I have an old car.
  2) "Be obliged": I've got to get a new car. = I must get a new car.

It's even possible to combine the HAVE got2 idiom with the GET to idiom.

 I have simply got to get to go to Disneyland! = I simply must have the opportunity 
                                                 to go to Disneyland!

There are lots more idioms using these two verbs, but it would take me all night to go through them, and it would probably confuse you even more.

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