Uses of get

Get is one of the most common verbs in English and can be used in many different ways.

1. Get + noun / pronoun can mean ‘receive’, ‘bring’, ‘fetch’, ‘obtain’, ‘buy’, or ‘catch’, and with to + a place it means ‘arrive at / in’.

2. We use get + adjective or comparative adjective to mean ‘become’.
3. Compare be + adjective and get + adjective.
4. It’s dark. It’s getting dark.
5. I’m used to the climate in England now. I’m getting used to the climate in England.

3. We can use get + object + infinitive to mean ‘make somebody do something’ or ‘persuade somebody to do something’.

4. In informal spoken English we sometimes use get (+ object + past participle) instead of have (+ object + past participle) to say that you ask or pay another person to do something for you. For more information, see TBA.

5. We can use get (+ past participle) instead of be to make a passive structure. This is more informal than using be.