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In this podcast, you will hear a conversation between Debbie and John in which they use a lot of expressions with GET â listen out for them and try to work out the meaning from the context.
Debbie: Hello John!
John: Hello there, Debbie!
Debbie: You won't believe what happened to me this morning!
John: What happened?
Debbie: Well, as I was getting on the train, I heard someone shout my name. It was my friend Jane from school. I hadnât seen her in years!
John: What a coincidence! Does she live near you?
Debbie: Well, she's just moved to the area. She got on the train with me and we got off at the same stop so we had a good chat. She told me that she's living near me now with her daughter. Apparently, she's getting over a terrible divorce. She and her husband decided to get divorced over a year ago but had continued living together until she decided that she just needed to get away, so a friend rented her a small apartment.
John: That sounds stressful! I can't imagine living with someone I was divorcing!
Debbie: Yes! She said that, at first, they got on well because they didn't want to upset their daughter. However, after a while, they started to get on each other's nerves and argue a lot until a friend offered her an apartment and she got in a taxi and left!
John: And how is she now?
Debbie: She says that they're getting by and she's sure that things will get better now that they have their own space.
John: Well, I hope she gets through this tough time.
Debbie: Thank you. I told her that if she needs anything, she can get in touch and I can help her.
John: That was kind!
Did you get the meaning of the expressions with âgetâ that we used?
We use get on and get off to talk about entering and leaving transport such as trains, buses, bikes and the underground, but we use get in and get out for entering and leaving cars and taxis.
Debbie: That´s right. My friend and I got on the train together and got off at the same stop but she got in a taxi to go to her new apartment. We can also use âGet out!â to tell someone to leave.
John: Debbie said that her friend was getting over her divorce. To get over something means to recover from something, we can get over the trauma of a relationship that has ended and we can also get over an illness. For example, âI found it hard to get over my ex-partnerâ and âI'm getting over a cold.â
Debbie: You poor thing! I also spoke about my friend needing to get away, which means to escape. We can use it to talk about escaping in general, escaping someone, a place or to another place, for example âI go to the mountains when I need to get away from the city.â Notice that we use âfromâ to say what we are escaping.
John: Get away with sounds similar but the meaning is different! Get away with means to escape punishment. For example, when we were children, my brother and I were playing football in the garden and he broke an ornament with the ball but he got away with it - he hid the ornament and my mum never realised it was him!
Debbie: Did you and your brother get on well when you were children?
John: Yes, we did. We got on like a house on fire! Get on well means to have a good relationship and we can say don't get on to say the opposite â when people don't have a good relationship. Like my brother and his mother-in-law â they don't get on at all. To get on like a house on fire is an expression that means llevarse de maravilla â like me and my brother.
Debbie: To get by means to have just enough of something to manage or survive but not to have extra. For example, âMany people in the world get by on a low income.â
John: And I know enough Spanish to get by but Iâm not fluent!
Debbie: I think you mostly get your message across. Get something across means to make someone understand you.
John: Yes, but there are some people like my neighbour that I just canât get through to. This also means to make someone understand you.
Debbie: Get through by itself means to complete something difficult, for example I have a lot of work to get through today or to survive a difficult situation. As John said before, he hopes Jane gets through the divorce.
John: Yes. She can always get in touch with you for help, like you said. Get in touch means to contact someone.
Debbie: Do you get the meanings now? Can you think of two more verbs with get that we didnât mention?
John: Hmmmm, Get up and... get out of.
Debbie: Well done! Get up means to leave your bed in the morning. I get up at 7 o'clock during the week.
John: And get out of means to avoid doing something. For example, I sometimes make excuses to get out of gardening or going shopping!
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