I got hung up on contractions this morning regarding the word “you’ve”. Normally, I’d say “you’ve got a problem”, which expands to “you have got a problem”, which isn’t wrong, but I normally wouldn’t say. Not contracting, I’d say “you have a problem”, so then should I just say “you’ve a problem”? That sounds weird in my head. Is this just a US English problem?
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.
I’m not too sure, but I think “be” (“is”, “are”) is the only verb that can be contracted and still remain a main verb. I’m not too sure why.
🏆 Award for well thought out and educational answer!
I can’t find the clitic.
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!