"I get it" vs "I got it"

[Brave Heart]

Hi all,

I sometimes get confused with "I get it" and "I got it" in such context as follows.

A: Do you understand me?
B: I get it. or I got it

Could you tell me if both are acceptable? If so, what is the difference in meaning?

Thanks.

 

[coiffe]

Hi all,

I sometimes get confused with "I get it" and "I got it" in such context as follows.

A: Do you understand me?
B: I get it. or I got it

Could you tell me if both are acceptable? If so, what is the difference in meaning?

Thanks.

Very subtle difference, and in general usage, they're interchangeable. Clearly, "I get it" is present tense and indicates that he gets it now. "I got it" is past tense and indicates that yes, he understood (finished action) before the moment of confirming his understanding.

But they still add up to the same thing and are interchangeable.

 

[Musical Chairs]

I don't think there's a difference...but one sounds better than the other sometimes and I don't know how I'd explain that.

 

[kenny4528]

Very subtle difference, and in general usage, they're interchangeable. Clearly, "I get it" is present tense and indicates that he gets it now. "I got it" is past tense and indicates that yes, he understood (finished action) before the moment of confirming his understanding.

But they still add up to the same thing and are interchangeable.

Hi, I think I got it is more common than I get it in conversation, right?

 

[coiffe]

Hi, I think I got it is more common thanI get it in this context, right?

No, I don't think so. I think you could hear either.

Maybe, though, you're onto something. Maybe there is a touch of humility or submission to "I get it" that is not quite there in "I got it." Maybe "I got it" is just a little bit more manly than "I get it."

But we're talking infinitesimal differences here, I mean really infinitesimal.

Or not?

 

[Musical Chairs]

I think they are used equally, but I really don't know how to explain why I'd pick one over the other.

 

[kenny4528]

No, I don't think so. I think you could hear either.

Maybe, though, you're onto something. Maybe there is a touch of humility or submission to "I get it" that is not quite there in "I got it." Maybe "I got it" is just a little bit more manly than "I get it."

But we're talking infinitesimal differences here, I mean really infinitesimal.

Or not?

Thanks, I get/got it.

 

[Popeye123]

Brave Heart
I think both these are slang, both are used though the first is probably more common, I don't think there is a huge difference in meaning. I think you would use "I get it" in reply to your question but you could use either as an exclamation of final understanding "Ah, now I understand" - "Ah, I get it". I think the second should be better written "I've got it" (there is very low emphasis in the "have" in "I have got it" but its still there - just)
Popeye

 

[cheshire]

If you play tennis with your friend, and you won. Now you say that you've won.

"I win!"
"I won!!

Which shall we choose?

 

[Musical Chairs]

The first one, right when you knew.

A while later (like when you see your friends who were cheering you on maybe), you'd say "I won!"

 

[cheshire]

That's done it!
You've confirmed for us that "I got it." is almost an idiom! Otherwise only "I get it." would be correct if you contrast it with other verbs.

 

[coiffe]

If you play tennis with your friend, and you won. Now you say that you've won.

"I win!"
"I won!!

Which shall we choose?

It's a pretty good analogy. You could actually say either, in that context. Just as you could say "I get it" or "I got it" in the above context.

 

[Brave Heart]

Thanks guys. I appreciate your help.

 

[cheshire]

This idea just struck me...

The reason why the past tense is used in "I got it." might be because...

Yes, now that I understand what I should know about, please don't bother and try to explain it to me further!

The speaker's feelings that the act should be a past thing (done thing) is reflected in the past tense.

...I'm not sure, though...

Which of the following should be chosen?

1.Oh, I see. I get it. You don't need to explain more.
2.Oh, I see. I got it. You don't need to explain more.

 

[Musical Chairs]

But I think both options in the OP could be okay. (not the case in the I win/won analogy...kind of)

"Do you understand?"
"Yea, I get it." (quick response, looking at the person asking maybe)
"Yup, I got it." (as you are writing something maybe)

 

[coiffe]

This idea just struck me...

The reason why the past tense is used in "I got it." might be because...

Yes, now that I understand what I should know about, please don't bother and try to explain it to me further!

The speaker's feelings that the act should be a past thing (done thing) is reflected in the past tense.

...I'm not sure, though...

You're right about a possible undercurrent of emotion, Cheshire. That's what I was alluding to earlier ... But you'd underline it with repetition or intensity or emphasis, e.g.

"Yay! I got it!"

or,

"Enough already! I got it! Now leave me alone!"

 

[cheshire]

I get it!
In the sentence "I got it!", we are seeing the axis of orientation move toward the past.

Just as a subjunctive mood needs a shift in axis of orientation...!

 

[Nuh_Yamin]

"I got it" seems to me "I know what to do".

for example:

A: Go tell her that you love her before it's too late.
B: Don't worry. I got it.

Is that correct?

Thanks in advance,
Nuh Yamin.

 

[owlman5]

"I got it" seems to me "I know what to do".

for example:

A: Go tell her that you love her before it's too late.
B: Don't worry. I got it.

Is that correct?

Thanks in advance,
Nuh Yamin.

It could mean what you suggest, Nuh Yamin. Generally, I take it to mean: I understand what you told me.

The context in which the remark is made can add various things to its meaning.

 

[sound shift]

If I tell a joke and the other person's expression stays the same, I ask, "Do you get it?" or "Don't you get it?", not "Did you get it?" or "Didn't you get it?"

 

[fdk47]

If I tell a joke and the other person's expression stays the same, I ask, "Do you get it?" or "Don't you get it?", not "Did you get it?" or "Didn't you get it?"

I think, "I get it" is used when a mystery, or something puzzling such as a joke in your example is solved, and "I got it." is used when you understood a procedure, or what to do such as an instruction....right?

 

[Blippo]

I think "I got it" is in the present tense (almost), in that it means "I've got it", although the present perfect is a past tense. Obviously, the 'having got it' would occur before the statement, but I don't feel there's any sense of 'having got it' in the past simple, ie as something completely finished, with a break in time before the end of the action and now. Rather, the statement would probably be spontaneous as the light-bulb moment occurred.

This would be different:

"I got it the first time you told me."


An interesting example of flirting with English .

 

[mplsray]

I think "I got it" is in the present tense (almost), in that it means "I've got it", although the present perfect is a past tense. Obviously, the 'having got it' would occur before the statement, but I don't feel there's any sense of 'having got it' in the past simple, ie as something completely finished, with a break in time before the end of the action and now. Rather, the statement would probably be spontaneous as the light-bulb moment occurred.

This would be different:

"I got it the first time you told me."


An interesting example of flirting with English .

There are dialects in American English in which "I got it" is the equivalent in some circumstances as "I have it," that is, got is being used as a present-tense verb. Here's part of a usage note from the American Heritage Dictionary entry for "get":

In colloquial use and in numerous nonstandard varieties of American English, the past tense form got has the meaning of the present. This arose probably by dropping the helping verb have from the past perfects have got, has got: We've got to go, we've got a lot of problems became We got to go, we got a lot of problems. The reanalysis of got as a present-tense form has led to the creation of a third singular gots in some varieties of English, especially African American Vernacular English.

 

[humvee]

I think this is analogous to the difference between "I can get the picture", "I could get the picture". The latter might be more humble or polite.

 

[sound shift]

In colloquial use and in numerous nonstandard varieties of American English, the past tense form got has the meaning of the present. This arose probably by dropping the helping verb have from the past perfects have got, has got: We've got to go, we've got a lot of problems became We got to go, we got a lot of problems. The reanalysis of got as a present-tense form has led to the creation of a third singular gots in some varieties of English, especially African American Vernacular English.

BrE is different here. The helping word "have" has not been dropped from we've got a lot of problems, etc; "I got it" is not the equivalent of "I have it" but the simple past of "I get it". "Get" can mean "to understand" in BrE, consequently we typically respond: "I get it" to a joke, an explanation, etc. I could not respond: "I got it" in that situation.

 

[Ali tariq12]

I think for a native american, "I got it " or "I get it " will have same meaning to communicate your understanding. Can any native speaker please confirm this.

 

[sound shift]

Going all the way back to 2007 and the dialogue in post 1), I find both "I get it" and "I got it" unlikely as replies to the question asked: "Do you understand me?" I would expect "Yes", "Yes, I do" or "I do" here.

 

[DonnyB]

Going all the way back to 2007 and the dialogue in post 1), I find both "I get it" and "I got it" unlikely as replies to the question asked: "Do you understand me?" I would expect "Yes", "Yes, I do" or "I do" here.

I've heard (and used) "I get you" in BE as a response to confirm an understanding of something which has just been said.

 

[sound shift]

I've heard (and used) "I get you" in BE as a response to confirm an understanding of something which has just been said.

So have I. That's another possibility.

 

[Ali tariq12]

I've heard (and used) "I get you" in BE as a response to confirm an understanding of something which has just been said.

So if someone says "do you understand" so possible response could be "I get you", right ?

 

[Vronsky]

So if someone says "do you understand" so possible response could be "I get you", right ?

Right. Say, "Yeah, gotcha"

 

[Cagey]

So if someone says "do you understand" so possible response could be "I get you", right ?

Gotcha would work, but not "I got you." It is very casual English, and used only in informal situations. Also, I would expect to hear 'gotcha' in response to someone's explanation of the reasons for something, for instance, and not the explanation of a math problem. You are saying you understand the person's thinking, rather than referring to an abstract idea.

 

[Ashraful Haque]

What about when two people are fighting and one says- "It's alright. I get it (I understand what you're trying to say). It's just a misunderstanding."
Or,
"Shut up! I get it (I understand that it was my mistake), it was my fault!"

I've heard 'get it' being used like this in AmE movies.

 

[Cagey]

Yes, Ashraful Haque, that's one way it's used in American English.

 

[C.S.Hy]

I studied the discussion above. A tentative summary：

• "(I) get it" is in simple present, used to report the situation that you've suddenly understood something difficult, or that you've just found something that you've been trying to find.

It is not necessarily used to respond. It's not usually used in negative or interrogative forms.

• "(I) got it" is short for "I have got it", in a corrupt form, used to respond to inquiry or potential inquiries.

It can be used in negative form, i.g. "(I) haven't got it", and interrogative form, i.g. " (have) you got it?", and the latter may rhetorically mean annoyance or threat.

 

[sound shift]

Re. #36

There's no context in Brave Heart's post. In the absence of context, "I get it" and "I got it" seem unlikely as replies to "Do you understand me?"

 

[Welsh_Sion]

@zaffy