Collocating verbs: get

Take a look at the items on the following page.

- How many of them do you recognise?

- Do you know anyone who has any of these?

- What unites these 5 things?

The things are:

a banana slicer

a toothpaste squeezer

a paperweight

decorative pillows

a giant pencil

a rice cooker

What do they have in common?

Well, for many, they're all a bit pointless.

Why is this relevant to today's class?

Well, we're looking at the verb GET today, which some people consider to be a bit of a pointless verb.

The rationale

The point is that there is always an alternative to GET that could be used which was more precise than using GET. Can you find another way of building these sentences without using GET?

01: I've got two brothers and a sister

02: I've got to get up early tomorrow

03: I got my English degree from the Open University

04: I'm going to the shop to get some bread.

05: Uh-oh, it looks like he's getting angry!

06: I've just got an interesting message from my friend.

07: I just can't get used to the weather here.

08: I need to get my hair cut soon.

09: If you're too busy, I'll get someone else to do it.

10: I got fired from my first job for being late.

Your answers

Breaking GET down

We won't go into great detail here, especially with the grammar, but GET (like HAVE) is very versatile.

GET + noun

receive - I've just got an interesting email

obtain - I got my degree from Oxford

buy - I need to get some bread

understand - I just didn't get the joke

GET + adjective (meaning = become)

He gets angry really quickly

Uh-oh, I think she's getting drunk

They got rich in the 90s

GET (verb of motion, meaning = arrive)

I usually get to work at 9:00

I got home at 19:00 yesterday

What time do you think you'll get here?

How do I get to the city centre from here?

HAVE GOT

the present perfect - I've just got an email from the bank

possessive - I've got a brother!

obligation - I've got to do my homework!

logical inference - She's got to be a Liverpool fan!

Other tricky grammar points with GET include: get smth done, get smb to do smth, get used to (doing) smth and the use of GET (instead of BE) in the passive. In fact, the study of GET is one of the grammar points in many C1 advanced textbooks, meaning that it's quite a deep and rich theme.

Activation

Name three things that you've got in your house which you've got in the last year.

Where did you get your degree?

What have you got to do this week?

Have you ever got arrested?

When did you last get an actual letter from a friend in the post?

Are there any accents that you just can't get?

When did you last get angry with someone?

Phrases: easy

Here are some of the most common phrases with GET. There is, of course, a lot of overlap between GRAMMAR GET and VOCAB GET, but in VOCAB GET, we only care about understanding the phrase as one unit.

get a job

get married (to smb)

get ready (for smth)

get lost

get home

get up

get over smth

get through (to smb)

get on / along (with smb)

get out (of a place)

get dressed

get undressed

get changed

get better

get worse

get back

get away (from smb)

get away (e.g. for the weekend)

get away with smth

get tired

how many of the phrases do you know and use well?

How many do you recognise but aren't compeltely sure about?

how many are completely new?

Phrases: difficult

get the hang of smth

get the wrong end of the stick

get the short end of the stick

get your act together

get to the bottom of smth

get a grip (of yourself)

get cold feet

get wind of smth

get a kick out of smth

get on smb's nerves

get out of hand

get back on track

get in over your head

get the ball rolling

get your head around smth

get away with murder

You may have heard of 'get on smb's nerves,' but have you heard of any of the others?

Context

Perhaps a little context might help. Can you complete the missing information?

01: All right! Let's get _______ and start with something easy.

02: All of these constructions are really starting to ______!!!!

03: He got _______ the fact that they were planning to attack him, so he called the police.

04: He's strict with his son but he lets his daughter get ______.

05: She got ______ before her wedding, which is normal.

06: They asked me how my uncle was, but I thought they said ankle. I obviously got ______.

07: My brother is tall, handsome, and charming. I'm not. I obviously got ______.

08: The police have finally got _______ what exactly happened in the bank robbery.

09: Some people get ______ watching Mukbang videos.

10: I'm starting to get ______ of these GET constructions now. They're not so difficult after all.

Still not easy, right?

Let's get it sorted!

Match

get the hang of smth

get the wrong end of the stick

get the short end of the stick

get your act together

get to the bottom of smth

get a grip (of yourself)

get cold feet

get wind of smth

a) misunderstand smth

b) have doubts about smth before a big event, like a wedding

c) take control (often of your emotions)

d) learn about a secret plan / conspiracy

e) find out the full details of smth, usually after an investigation

f) become better at something after practicing a lot

g) be unlucky (especially compared to others who are luckier)

h) start behaving in a more constructive or proactive way

get a kick out of smth

get on smb's nerves

get out of hand

get back on track

get in over your head

get the ball rolling

get your head around smth

get away with murder

i) annoy smb

j) understand smth complex

k) avoid punishment despite bad behaviour

l) have more responsibilities / work than you can handle

m) enjoy smth / get excitement from smth

n) start doing smth

o) return to being productive, return to the task at hand after a break / delay

p) become chaotic / uncontrollable

Commentary

These definitions are simplified to give you the basic idea of the meaning. However, context counts and it's definitely possible that even after matching and learning some of these constructions, you'll still get them wrong.

For example, 'to get the wrong end of the stick' means to understand something wrongly, but there's often the added meaning that it leads to some confusion later.

Good example: I invited a girl to hang out. I thought it was a date, but she thought we were hanging out as just friends. Later, I tried to hold her hand and she pulled it away. I obviously got the wrong end of the stick.

Bad example: I was terrible at physics in school. I got the wrong end of the stick about it.

It takes a long time to acquire such expressions, and most speakers of English never get close. The good news is that it's pretty much only L1 users who use such expressions.

Reflection

We are deep in C1 territory here. A common criticism of C1 vocab is that it (like a banana slicer) is all a bit pointless. Most people learn English to use it with other L2 users. Using this vocab is likely simply to confuse the person you're talking to.

Is there any benefit in learning / using vocab like this?

Another criticism of C1 material is that it leads to heavy cognitive load, i.e. it just puts too much pressure on the brain and makes the learning process painful.

Have you felt that way in this class or the last one?