‘Get’ is such a wonderfully useful word in spoken English. If you want to make your spoken English sound more native like, then this is a great place to start.

The only problem is that it can be a little confusing! Why? Because, ‘get’ has so many different meanings. Consider the following examples:

1. When did you get here?
2. My friend is getting married in October next year.
3. It gets dark around 6:00pm.
4. I get up early most mornings.
5. Last Christmas, I got such a lovely card.
6. ‘Oh yeah! Now, I get you!’
7. Can you get me a drink?
8. I’ve been trying to get a new job for ages.

In each of these sentences and questions, there is a different meaning for ‘get’. Do you know what ‘get’ means in these examples? Click here to check!

Not only does it have different meanings, but it’s also an irregular verb in English with a different past participle form in American English and British English.

• Base form: Get
• Past simple: Got
• Past participle: Got (British English), Gotten (American English)

So, you might hear different English native speakers say:

‘I’ve forgot to charge my phone!’

‘I’ve forgotten to charge my phone!’

Both are correct forms. If you are wondering which one I use, then the answer is ….both! Whatever slips out of my mouth at the time is what I use.

There are so many words like ‘get’ in English. Easy….but ….confusing! Think about ‘go versus come’; ‘borrow versus lend’; ‘See you versus See you soon’; ‘sensible versus sensitive’; ‘voice versus sound’; ‘advise versus advice’ and the list goes on and on. That’s the reason why I’m currently working on a short course with a series of 5-minute video classes to explain the most confusing words in English. If you are interested in getting access to the course, register your interest by clicking here and I’ll make sure to tell you as soon as the course is ready.

Have a great day!