Adding a small word to get can change its meaning considerably. You get up in the morning, get on a bus and get along with a colleague. The fifteen expressions below cover common uses, with grammar notes to help you put them into your own sentences.
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Fifteen useful expressions
Each row gives a common meaning, not every possible meaning of the expression. Read the whole example before translating it. The surrounding words help you decide whether “get through” means finish a task, survive a difficult period or reach someone by telephone.
| No. | Expression | Meaning in this example | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | get up | Leave your bed. | I get up at seven on weekdays. |
| 2 | get on | Board a bus, train or similar vehicle. | We got on the bus outside the station. |
| 3 | get off | Leave a bus, train or similar vehicle. | Get off at the next stop. |
| 4 | get in | Enter a car or taxi. | She got in the taxi and closed the door. |
| 5 | get out of | Leave a car, room or other enclosed space. | Please get out of the car on the pavement side. |
| 6 | get back | Return to a place. | What time did you get back? |
| 7 | get away | Leave or escape; also take a short holiday. | We hope to get away for the weekend. |
| 8 | get over | Recover from an illness, disappointment or difficulty. | It took him a while to get over the disappointment. |
| 9 | get by | Manage with what is available. | I can get by in French when travelling. |
| 10 | get on with | Have a good relationship with someone; also continue a task. | I get on with my new colleagues. |
| 11 | get along with | Have a good relationship with someone. | Does Jo get along with her flatmates? |
| 12 | get through | Finish or deal with something; also make contact by telephone. | I finally got through the reading assignment. |
| 13 | get across | Communicate an idea successfully. | She got her main point across clearly. |
| 14 | get together | Meet socially or assemble as a group. | Let’s get together after the course. |
| 15 | get around to | Finally do something after delaying it. | I got around to replying to the email. |
Get on and get in: choosing the transport expression
For ordinary travel, use get on/off with buses, trains and planes, and get in/out of with cars and taxis. “We got on the train, then got in a taxi” describes two different stages of the journey. These are conventional combinations, rather than a rule based only on the size of a vehicle.
Get on has other meanings, so a transport rule will not explain every sentence. “How are you getting on?” asks how things are progressing. “Get on with your work” means continue working, not board something.
Where does the object go?
With get over, keep the object after the expression: “She got over the problem” or “She got over it.” Do not say “She got it over” when you mean recovered from it. That word order belongs to a different construction, as in “get it over with,” meaning finish an unpleasant task.
In the communication sense, get across allows separation: “He got his idea across.” With a pronoun, use “He got it across.” Record the whole pattern alongside the meaning rather than assuming that every phrasal verb has the same word order.
Get around to is followed by a noun or an -ing form
In “I finally got around to cleaning the cupboard,” to is a preposition, so the next verb takes -ing. “Got around to clean” is not the usual pattern. British English also uses get round to with the same meaning.
The past simple of get is got. British English commonly uses got as the past participle too, while American English often uses gotten for meanings involving obtaining or becoming. Learn the complete expression because have got has its own uses.
A short story using the expressions
I got up late and missed my usual bus. I got on the next one, got off near the office and arrived just before the meeting. Our new manager explained the plan and got the main idea across with a simple diagram.
I get on with the team, but I had a lot of work to get through that afternoon. I finally got around to answering an old email before I got back home. We agreed to get together on Friday and discuss plans for a weekend away.
Get by, get through or get over?
Get by emphasises managing with limited resources or ability. Get through can emphasise reaching the end of a task or difficult experience, while get over often emphasises recovery afterwards. For example, you might get through a demanding week and then need time to get over your disappointment about one result.
Practice
Try the questions before reading the answers. Use the sentence or situation to explain your choice.
- I ______ at six and leave home at seven. (get up / get over)
- We need to ______ the train at platform four. (get in / get on)
- Change “get across the message” to a sentence with it.
- I finally got around to ______ my notes. (organise / organising)
- Which expression means manage with limited resources: get by or get together?
- I couldn’t reach the office by phone. Complete: “I couldn’t get ______.”
- Correct: “She gets her colleagues on with.”
Answers and explanations
| Question | Answer and explanation |
|---|---|
| 1 | Get up means leave bed. |
| 2 | Get on is the normal train expression. |
| 3 | Get it across. Put the pronoun between get and across in this use. |
| 4 | Organising follows the preposition to. |
| 5 | Get by. Get together means meet. |
| 6 | Through. This context concerns telephone contact, not completing work. |
| 7 | She gets on with her colleagues. Keep on with before the object. |
The British Council’s phrasal verb lesson explains separable and inseparable patterns. Choose three expressions from this guide and write a short account of your own day. Include enough context to make their meanings clear.
