gotta
/ˈɡɒtə/verb
gotta is spelled G-O-T-T-A: 5 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 89 times per million words in written English, the 1,191st most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a verb, gotta means “Synonym of have got to, have to” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in gotta?
| Letters | 5: G-O-T-T-A |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 89 times per million words; the 1,191st most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Rhymes with |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is gotta?
Gotta appears 89 times per million words in written English, the 1,191st most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce gotta?
- UK /ˈɡɒtə/
- British /ˈɡɔtə/
- British [ˈɡɔtə] ~ [ˈɡɔʔə] ~ [ˈɡɔɾə]
Gotta has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-gotta.wav, En-us-gotta.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with gotta?
One word on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as gotta from its last stressed vowel (/ɒtə/, British pronunciation):
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of gotta
- had to past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does gotta mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
verb
- 1
colloquialSynonym of have got to, have to
I gotta learn this for my exam.
- 2
colloquialContraction of got + a.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
How do you abbreviate gotta?
Wiktionary records one abbreviation of gotta: gta.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Where does gotta come from?
Contraction of got + to.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).