The Passive with GET - When and How to Use It - English Grammar

Hi everyone. I'm Jennifer from English with  Jennifer. Let's talk about unfortunate situations  

just for a moment. Have you ever been seriously  lost? My husband and I got lost the first time  

we came to Boston. This was before anyone had a  GPS, so we had to rely on a road map on paper. We  

got so confused when one street changed its name  as we were driving along. We got all mixed up,  

and it took almost two hours to get to our  destination. We took a lot of wrong turns.

We all have funny stories. Right? We  tell them as part of a conversation.  

That's why the passive with "get" works so well.  The passive with "be" tends to be more formal  

and more typical of writing, but the passive with  "get" is very common in everyday spoken English.

We use "get" + the past participle of  the main verb. We don't name an agent.  

There's no by-phrase. My husband  and I got lost. We got so confused.  

We got all mixed up. This is more about describing  our state rather than receiving an action.  

The passive with get is used with a lot of  verbs that suggest bad news or bad luck.

Haley got fired. My former boss got arrested.

Did you get hurt? Be careful.  You'll get yourself killed!

Notice in that last example how we might  use a reflexive pronoun to suggest the  

person's responsibility or  involvement in the matter.

But not all verbs have to  express something unfortunate.  

Let me share a short text. Can you spot  all six examples of the passive with "get"?

My friend Emma just got married. It's rather  surprising because they got engaged only one month  

ago. I think they wanted to get hitched before  Emma starts grad school. She got accepted to her  

top choice, and the semester starts next month. It  was a small wedding, and I'm happy I got invited.  

It was a simple but beautiful ceremony. They  didn't get caught up with all the details.  

Maybe more couples should plan  quick weddings like that one.

Do you see where I used the passive with "get"?

Look. Got married, got engaged, get hitched (which  is an informal way of saying "get married"),

got accepted, got invited,

get caught up.

Another thing to keep in mind is that the passive  with "get" can signal the start of some state  

or a change in state as in: get engaged, get  married, get divorced, get elected, get drafted.

All these actions mean that the  subject has some kind of new status.

When was the last time you  got invited somewhere special?

When was the last time you got seriously lost?

Post your answers in the comments. All right.  Let's end here before you get tired of grammar.  

That's all for now. Please  like the video if you found it  

useful. As always, thanks for  watching and happy studies!

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