Speaker 1: I get it. You got here because you want to
get something new in English. You're getting more and more
interested in improving your English. I'm sure you'll totally get
this lesson. Let's dive in.
Speaker 2: Welcome to another Happy English podcast, coming to you from
New York City. And here's your English teacher, Michael.
Speaker 1: Alrighty, thank you John, and thanks everyone. It's Michael here
from Happy English and I help people speak English better.
And this is Happy English Podcast, Episode seven seventy eight.
Eight Meanings of Get. Today, we're gonna be tackling a
word that seems super simple, but it's actually one of
the trickiest words in English, really is. And that word
is get. Get. I mean, we use get all the time,
and it's got so many different meanings and nuances. So
let's explore all the different ways that you can use
get in English. By the end of this podcast lesson,
you're going to be using get just like a native speaker.
First of all, we use get to mean receive, like
if someone gives you a birthday present, you get a present.
When you open your inbox in the morning, you might
get a bunch of emails. The key here is that
someone else is doing the action that results in you
getting something. Get means receive, and get can also be
you to talk about obtaining or achieving something. In this case,
it's more about your effort. You're putting in the work.
You're doing something to get something, and there's a nuance
that you got that because of overcoming some kind of
obstacle to get that thing, Like you studied hard and
you got a good grade on your test. Or you
might get a new job after having a successful job interview,
or maybe you might finally get eight hours of sleep
after a long week. Now that's an achievement. You get
an email because of someone else's effort, and you get
a new job because of your effort, something new came
to you. You got it, which brings us to the
third meaning of get, which is by get is a
casual way to say by like I got a new
pair of shoes, or I got a new book, I
got a new coffee maker, or I got groceries at Costco.
Using get like this is informal everyday English. Now let's
move on to some more abstract meanings. Get can also
mean understanding or comprehending something like when you're trying to
learn a new concept and it finally clicks you get it,
or maybe someone's trying to explain something to you but
you just can't wrap your head around it. You don't
get it. Do you get what I mean? Here? Get
means understand and asking someone do you get it? Is
much more friendly than asking them do you understand? So
the next time you explain something to someone, you can
ask them like do you get what I mean? Or
do you get it? Casual and friendly? Get it all right?
So now let's get moving, I mean literally, let's get moving.
Because get can also be used to talk about transportation.
Get means to catch or travel by some kind of transportation,
like oh, look, it's raining, why don't we get an
uber or Kim gets the seven h nine train to
the city every morning, and I know we thinking, oh, Michael,
can we use catch? Yes, you can. You can catch
a train or get a train. It's the same meaning.
And since we're talking about moving, if you get a train,
you're probably doing that because you want to arrive somewhere,
and you can use get once more to mean arrive,
like I got to work early this morning. We use
get to talk about the destination, so you can say
I need to get to the airport by eight pm,
or we got to the party late. So get two
means arrive. That's handy, isn't it. Just remember one exception,
which is when you're talking about getting home, you never
say I need to get to home. You get home. Remember,
home is used as an adverb with verbs of motion.
You go home, you arrive home, you stay home, and
you get home. So what time did you get home
last night? Next, let's talk about changes, because get also
has the meaning of become here. Get shows a change
or progression and is usually followed by an adjective, like
in the Fall, it gets dark outside earlier and earlier,
or I got bored during the meeting when the boss
was babbling. Did you know that a baby elephant gets
big very quickly? Let me see what time is it?
Oh it's one thirty, No wonder, I'm getting hung and
I'm getting excited. Because next up is our final meaning
of get for today. Get means fetch, which is an
old fashioned word meaning to go somewhere, to pick up
something and come right back, like I was watching TV
and got a drink during the commercial. Get means go
and come back. I'm gonna get the kids from school,
and it's usually a quick trip. Like when I was
a kid, my mom would ask me to get the mail,
just to walk outside the door to the mailbox. Ah,
those were the days before the mailbox was full of
junk mail. Keep in mind, the best way to remember
vocabulary like this and any other world word or phrase
in English is to take that word or phrase, write
it in a sentence that's true for you or true
in your world, and then memorize your sentences. By the way,
can you imagine getting the chance to practice this kind
of English with me directly? You can get more practice
using your English when you join my podcast Learner's study group.
There you can make new friends, join us for live
group lessons every week where we practice these podcast lessons together.
Plus you get access to the pdf, transcript and audio
download for every Happy English podcast in the past and
in the future. And on top of that, each episode
has exercises where you can practice this English point with
speaking and writing checked by me. To learn more, just
visit Myhappy English dot com and choose podcast lessons seven
seventy eight. Remember, learning another language is not easy, but
it's not impossible, and I'm here to help you. On
your journey.
Speaker 2: This podcast is brought to you by Happy English. Please
visit Myhappy english dot com. Show your support for happy
English by leaving us a review. Get English, Get happy,
Happy English.