Dictionary

gotta en · VERB · etymology 1

Contraction of got + to.

(colloquial, no-past-participle, no-present-participle) Synonym of have got to, have to
- “All right, let’s go. They must have sake, eh? Oh, Izuna, will you come along?” “If they have fish or meat, you don’t gotta ask, please.” 2016, Yuu Kamiya, translated by Daniel Komen, No Game No Life, volume 4:
- Clavicular, characteristically, attributed his good luck with the criminal justice system to his looks. “You just gotta mog,” he posted on X, above a screenshot of a news headline. 2026 February 13, Joseph Bernstein, “Handsome at Any Cost”, in The New York Times, →ISSN, archived from the original on 14 Feb 2026:
- If there's beer, dude, you don't even gotta ask.
- I gotta learn this for my exam.

Spelling	Features	Labels	Source
gotta	Number=Sing, Person=3, Tense=Pres		lexicographic
had to	Tense=Past		lexicographic

(abbreviation, alt-of, colloquial, contraction) Contraction of got + a.
alt of got
- I gotta feeling that tonight's gonna be a good night 2009, The Black Eyed Peas, I Gotta Feeling: