The pattern

"Gotta" is the spoken form of "got to", which itself is a casual way of saying "have to". "I gotta go" means "I have to go", and it is the most common way people end a conversation in a hurry. The full version is "I've got to go", but in speech the "I've" collapses and you hear "I gotta".

It is about obligation with a bit of urgency: things you must do, usually soon. Like the other reductions, it belongs in speech and texts to friends. In writing, and in anything formal, use "have to" or "need to".

Say it out loud

Tap a sentence to hear it. Say it after the voice.

  2. "Run" here just means leave quickly. Nobody is running.

  6. "I gotta say" introduces a compliment or an opinion. It is a soft opener.

  10. "There's gotta be" means "there must be". Very common when something is frustrating.

Check yourself

1What does "I gotta go" mean?
2Which is the formal written equivalent of "I gotta finish this"?
3What does "You gotta try this" express?

Practice · 3 min

Say what you have to do, casually. Prompt on the left, one natural spoken sentence on the right.

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Say it today

Use it once in a real conversation before tomorrow. Out loud counts, even to yourself.