The verb ‘get’ has two main meanings: ‘come to have’ and ‘come to be’.
COME TO HAVE
receive, obtain, earn, bring, buy
- I got a letter from grandma this morning. (receive)
- I hope we’ll get approval for this project soon. (obtain)
- Our waiters get two thousand pounds a month. (earn)
- Can you get me a glass of water, please? (bring)
- I’ll get some bread on my way home. (buy)
COME TO BE
become, reach a state
- My father always gets angry when I’m late. (He becomes angry.)
- My mum is getting old. (She will reach the state of being old soon.)
- Jack gets bored easily. (He becomes bored easily. He reaches this state easily.)
- Your dress will get dirty if you sit here. (Your dress will become dirty/ will reach this state.)
- It takes me five minutes to get dressed. (It takes me five minutes to reach the state of being dressed.)
- Don’t get upset. (Don’t become upset.)
- When will you get ready? (When will you become/reach the state of being ready?)
As you can see from the above examples ‘GET’ always refers to some sort of CHANGE or process. On the other hand, ‘BE’ (am/is/are/was/were/will be etc.) refers to a STATE:
- You can’t talk to my father now. He is angry. (state)
- My mum is old. (state)
- Jack is bored. (state)
- Your dress is dirty. (state)
- I’m dressed. (state)
- Don’t be upset. (You are upset and I don’t want you to be in this state.)
- I’m ready. (state)
Remember that GET has many other meanings. Here are some examples for you:
- I don’t get it. (I don’t understand.)
- He got five years. (He was sent to prison for five years.)
- We have to get going. (We have to start going.)
- I didn’t get to see her. (I didn’t have the opportunity to see her.)
- They got home late. (They arrived home late.)
- I’ll get the phone. (I’ll pick up the phone.)
