The Most Confusing English Word: GET

Alright, everyone! Let’s get started.  Today’s class is going to be all about  

the word get. But before we explore it  in detail, I’d like to hear from you.  

So, what do you think ‘get’ means? I don't know, to met get means, you know, get. 

Okay, Mate? Mmh,  

you got me. I'd say that get means  the same as buy. Is that right? 

Okay, uhm, Thiago? I use get to say that arrived somewhere. 

Okay, and Chiari? Oh, sorry, I don't get you.

All right, so let's get to work.

Hey there RealLifers! As you might have noticed,  GET is quite a versatile and hard to define word.  

How many times do you think ‘get’ will be  said in this lesson? Comment your guess now! 

Now, before we get into today’s  lesson, let’s test your knowledge.

If you chose option b, you got it!

If you got confused, though,  

don’t worry because we are here to guide you  and help you to master the use of the word get  

and start using it confidently as soon  as you finish watching this video.

Also, if you stick around until the end,  

you are going to have a bonus  lesson about common expressions  

and phrasal verbs with get, as well as a quiz  to help you consolidate what you have learned.

Now before we start with the basics here  at RealLife English we would be honored to  

accompany you on your journey to English fluency. Let's go on this adventure together so hit the  

Subscribe button and Bell down below. This  way you won't miss any of our new lessons!

GET is an irregular verb.  Its simple past form is GOT  

and the past participle is  GOTTEN for AmE and GOT for BrE.

Another important aspect that learners should  take into account is that as a single word,  

the verb GET is not strong, it is hard to  make sense out of it. On the other hand,  

it’s when it’s combined with other words  that you can really understand its meaning.

Speaking of word combinations, I  highly recommend that you check out  

our lesson on word chunks to see  how combining words effectively  

can help you improve your fluency dramatically  and get out of the unwanted intermediate plateau.

That said, now let’s take a look at  the most common uses for the verb GET.

- I(‘ve) got, indicates possession  and is used in the same way as have.  

You can also add the preposition TO (I’ve go to),  

for when you have to do something. Check  out these examples from our talk show:

Get = You use get when you receive, obtain  or buy something. Let’s explore the examples:

Get + Object pronoun = You can use  get + a person to say that you want  

them to bring you something or  that they gave you something.

Example: Could you get me some  chocolate from the shop on the corner?

I was super excited and grateful when my  husband got me a laptop for my birthday  

and Christmas one year. What was the last  thing someone got you that made you excited?  

Comment below and share this with us.

- Get + Adjective / Comparative = When get  is followed by an adjective or comparative  

it gives the idea of become. You can understand  that there’s transformation involved.

Get can be used with a verb in the past  participle to form passive sentences.  

In this case, get replaces verb to  be. Let’s check out some examples:

One of the most common uses of get  is to mean to arrive or reach a point  

(commonly followed by TO)  Check out these examples:

And finally, get gives the idea  of moving or going somewhere.

If you have got to this point in the video,  

that’s awesome! Just to clarify, the word  get has many more meanings, and it would  

be pretty impossible and quite overwhelming  to talk about all of them in a single video.

But this is not the end of  our lesson yet, as I promised,  

let’s check out some useful expressions  and phrasal verbs with get and after that,  

you’ll have the chance to test  your knowledge with a short quiz.

Get past something = means to be able  to stop something from affecting you,  

upsetting you, or influencing you.  In the first example, we’ll see how  

Hadar uses this expression to  talk about Impostor Syndrome.

Get (sth) across = If you get something across,  

you manage to make someone  understand or believe you.

Get (a)round to (something)  = This means to do something  

that you have been intending to do for some time.

Get the hang of (sth) = If you get the hang  of something such as a skill or activity,  

you begin to understand or  realize how to do it. example:

I've never used this program before. Don't  worry - you'll soon get the hang of it.

Get By = to be able to live or deal  with a situation with difficulty,  

usually by having just  enough of something you need

Get carried away = to become so  excited or involved in something  

that you lose control of  your feelings or behaviour

Get over = Here, we’re going to cover three  different meanings of get over. First,  

it means to successfully deal with a problem  or difficulty. Pay attention to these examples:

Second, we use get over to say that  we become well again after an illness. 

Example: It took her about  a week to get over the flu.

And finally, we use get over when you begin to  feel better after a very unpleasant experience. 

Example: It took Joe quite a long  time to get over the divorce.

You(’ve) got me there = If you  say, you(‘ve) got me there,  

you mean you do not know an answer or  don’t have a solution to something.

Now you’ll have the chance to test your  knowledge with some quiz questions!  

Let’s start with a short story:

Let's say that as a New Year's resolution you plan  to read one book a month days and weeks went by  

and you haven't even started. In that case you can say that:

Now, let’s imagine you are giving  an interview for a talk show and  

the host asks you the following questions: When somebody loses weight, where does it go? 

What does it become? How does it get out of your body?

I hope you enjoyed today’s lesson! Remember these  examples are not the only uses of the word ‘get’  

in English, as there are so many, but hopefully  it was a good starting point for you to learn  

just how important this word is in English  and you can start understanding it better!  

Also, this is the amount of times  GET appeared in today’s lesson.  

Give us a like if you had fun learning  today and I’ll see you all soon!