THE VERB ‘TO GET’

According to the Oxford Dictionary of English the verb ‘to get’ is one of the five most commonly used verbs in the English language.

It is still considered to be informal, and it should be avoided in formal written documents, if possible. But it is obviously one of the most useful words in English.

The word ‘get’ is very valuable in speech; it has IMPACT, and that helps people to understand you. For example, a grammatically correct question like, ‘Has she an hour free?’ is quite difficult to ‘catch’, to understand – the whole sentence seems to flow into one word – but change it to, ‘Has she got an hour free?’ and your listeners will understand.

It works as a kind of ‘flag’ or ‘marker’ in speech, attracting attention to the words.

It is likely that the word’s great power is owed to its tendency to help people to understand what we say.

The plan of the verb is:

infinitive: to get;  past: got;  past participle: got [gotten is the past participle in North America but nowhere else]  present participle/gerund: getting.

Extreme informality in the use of ‘to get’ is shown by the word ‘gotta’ [usually pronounced ‘gorra’]. This word is not good English, even in speech, but it is a very successful street word that probably has a pedigree similar to the world champion of all street words, ‘OK’. It is also a labor - saving word, as it means,  ‘have got to.’

Another very informal use is ‘gotcha’, which means ‘I have got you’.

This may be used when someone catches another person (usually a child, in games). But it also applies to hitting a target, or a prey in hunting, or perhaps taking a winning ‘pot’ when playing cards.

This list shows some of the more popular uses of ‘to get’, as listed in the Oxford Dictionary of English:

1.   to obtain: ‘I get twenty five e-mails a week.’   ‘I got high marks in the exam.’

2.   to have: (usually as ‘have got’) ‘I’ve got two big dogs.’  ‘I’ve got a question’. An even more incorrect use is very common – ‘I got a girlfriend.’ ‘I got a house.’

3.   to receive: ‘I got a good welcome at the hotel.’

4.   to experience/suffer: ‘After the meeting I got a headache.’

5. to have success in obtaining : ‘They both got good jobs in Warsaw.’ ‘She got a first-class honors degree.’

6.   to do something: ‘I’ll get you a drink.’ ‘I’ll get this matter resolved.’

7.   to tend to find: ‘We don’t get weather like this in Mumbai.’ ‘You wouldn’t get delays like that in Hong Kong.’

8.   to put in touch with: ‘You can always get me at home.’ ‘They can get me on my cell phone anytime.’

9.   to reach, become: ‘He got fatter than ever on his so-called diet.’  ‘You’ll get used to it.’

10.  to understand: (especially a joke): ‘I get it!’ or in the  negative,  ‘I don’t get it.’

11.  to avenge: ‘I’ll get you for that!’ (often said jokingly)

12.  to hit or strike: ‘He got me in the eye!’

SOME SET PHRASES:

a)   to get along: to manage (often ‘without’) –  ‘We’ll get along without you.’ ‘He got along without fresh meat for two years.’

b)  to get along: be, or become, friends: ‘Vijay and Carmen have got along very well since they joined the same class.’

c)   to get at:  to reach – ‘It’s difficult to get at the air filter on this car.’

d)   to get at:  to say something indirectly – ‘Her explanation isn’t very

clear – do you know what she’s getting at?

e)   to get at: to bribe or corrupt – ‘OK boys, the referee’s been got at – our boxer will win.’

f)   to get at: to criticize, scold – ‘My mother is always getting at me because of my green hair and tattoos.’

g)   to get away with:  to escape punishment or blame – ‘He offended a lot of powerful people and got away with it.’  ‘He was charged with armed robbery but he got away with it on a technicality.’

h)  to get by: to survive or manage with difficulty – ‘He had a big family and got by on a minimum wage.’ ‘He was not very efficient and only just got by in his job.’

It is impossible not to use ‘to get’ and you should have no hesitation in using it in many ways – except in formal writing, if possible.

On the other hand, if you want to expand your vocabulary, you should always be thinking of a better way to express yourself – there is always a better word than ‘get’. It is not usually the eloquent, or educated, choice.

The short list shown above should demonstrate that the application of ‘to get’ is not very precise – it can change around a bit.

As this verb is not given any respectable place in English grammar it seems fair enough that grammarians should not try to set out too many rules about it.