Confusing
Words: Get
(#12)
More Idioms
with Get
(#4)
Get is
a very challenging word in English--because it has many very
different
meanings and because it is used in many
expressions--particularly phrasal verbs and verb +
preposition combinations. We saw
several of these
combinations
in Idioms with Get (#1,
#2, and #3).
Another group of idioms uses
get followed by specific verbs
and verb forms:
get going: leave
Wow! It's really late! I'd
better get going!
get going:
become
active or productive
Some people are instantly
awake, but I'm not. It takes me a long
time to
get going in the morning.
get started (with):
begin
(with).
The meeting got started at
9:35
AM.
What
time did you get started
with the meeting?
get to ( + verb):
be allowed to;
be permitted to
What did your parents say
about the rock concert? Do you get to
go?
get (someone) to (
+ verb):
persuade
someone
What did your parents say
about the rock concert? Did you get them
to give you permission to go?
get used to:
become
accustomed to; become comfortable with
At first, it was difficult
for Yussuf to speak English, but he got used to
it.
When
Bob was on vacation,
he got
used to sleeping late every morning.
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Special Notes
Note
that when get
used to
is followed by a verb, the verb is
an -ing form:
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not this:
but this:
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*Bob got used to sleep late.
Bob got used to
sleeping late.
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|
|
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not this:
but this:
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*Yussuf got used to speak
English.
Yussuf got used to speaking English.
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not
this:
but this:
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*I've gotten used to sit in
front of my computer for long periods of
time.
I've gotten used to sitting in front of my computer for long periods
of
time.
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Note, also, that grammatically,
get
used to is like be
used
to, but different from used
to:
Bob used to sleep late. Bob is used to sleeping late. Bob got used to sleeping
late.
Yussuf used to speak English. Bob is used to
speaking English. Bob got used to
speaking
English.
I used to sit in front of my computer for long
periods of time.
I'm used to sitting
in front of my computer for long periods of
time.
I've
gotten used to sitting in front of my computer for long periods
of time.
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