Episode 243 Collocations Everyday Verbs Get

Disclaimer

I am using an automatic transcript service as it is not possible for me to do it on my own and I cannot afford human transcription at the moment. The service claims to have about 95% accuracy, which means there will still be some mistakes, so my apologies for having a less than perfect transcript, but I hope I can afford human transcription soon and I will solve this problem. However, the service is pretty good, and the transcript is almost perfect.

Transcript

Welcome to a new episode from English plus podcast. Today’s episode is about everyday verbs and co-locations especially, we’re talking about the verb. Get very common verb. Get so without further ado, let’s start with our episode. About the very commonly used for get in English now get is a very common verb in English, but it is not always appropriate for talking about changes.

[00:00:33] And that’s not the only reason why I’m going to suggest alternatives to get, but using alternatives to get can improve your style. You don’t want to use get all the time. All right. So let’s start about the first alternative and that is to use. Go, not get. Now go is used for changes in people’s personality, appearance, and physical abilities.

[00:00:57] For example, we can say people go mad people go bold, people go gray. And here we’re talking about the color of the hair. Of course people go blind or people go deaf. So here it’s a lot better than saying, get mad or get bold. You don’t want to use get a lot because it is a common verb. You don’t want to repeat it over and over and over, especially when there is another verb you can use and that will improve your style, especially in writing.

[00:01:29] So here we’re talking about go. We said that we can use it for changes in people’s personality, appearance, and physical abilities, but that’s not everything. Go is often used for sudden, usually negative changes. For example, we can say he was very embarrassed and his face went red, or we can say suddenly the sky went very dark and it started to rain.

[00:01:54] So here we’re using go to talk about sudden, usually negative changes. We can also use, go to talk about slower color changes. For example, we can say the pages of the book had gone yellow over the years. So here we can use get if we want, it’s not a mistake. But it is not always a good idea to use, get when we can use go instead.

[00:02:20] So that is go, instead of get, now, let’s talk about using turn instead of get, turn off and co-located with colors. We can say, for example, the sky turned gold as the sunset, or we can say when the tomatoes turned red, the farmers pick them and sell them. Or we can say the news gave his mother such a shock that her hair turned white overnight.

[00:02:46] So you might be wondering now, is this episode about ghetto or about the other verb? Well, actually it is about get, but because we use get a lot, so I thought better than talking about, get, which we can use almost anywhere we can talk about the alternatives. And now let’s talk about get and become. But before we talk about, get and become, let me remind you that you can find the show notes of this episode in a link I will leave in the description.

[00:03:10] This link will take you to English plus podcast, website, English, plus podcast.com. And there you will find everything you need to practice the things we learn. You will find PDF practice worksheets in posts that are related to every single episode we create. So take the link and practice the English.

[00:03:30] You’re learning here to master the point and of course, to review them because it’s very important. Now you will understand everything, but trust me tomorrow, you will forget most of what you learned today. So don’t waste what you learn and practice, what you learn. Take the link, go to the website and use the PDF practice worksheets that are custom made for every single episode we create.

[00:03:52] You will also find a link to patriarch in the description of this episode. If you like the content we’re creating and you would like us to create more content, become our patron and support us on Patreon. This way we will continue on and create more content that you like and get benefit from. And there’s also a link to our mailing list where you can subscribe to our mailing list and get updates on our schedule every two weeks.

[00:04:16] So now let’s continue. We’re going to talk now about get and become I’ll get and become, can often be used with the same colocations, but become is more formal. And is therefore more appropriate in essays. For example, writing essays, for example, we say she gave up smoking when she became pregnant. Of course we can say, get pregnant, get pregnant is correct.

[00:04:39] No problems about that, but if you want to be more formal and something to use more appropriately in writing, and remember, this will give you a variety and your style will be better. Don’t use get all the time you can use become and hearsay. She became pregnant. Instead of she got pregnant. Another example, I would like to become involved in raising money for charity.

[00:05:02] You can say, get involved. No problem about that, but become involved is more formal is better for writing will improve your style. Now the same is true for co-locations with adjectives, such as angry, bored, excited, depressed, upset, impatient, violent we can use get, but become is more formal, better for writing.

[00:05:23] For example, we say he became depressed after his wife’s death. And here I will mention some words we use become with and not get. We use that with extinct popular or unpopular. Homeless and famous. For example, we say our local bakers has become famous for its Apple tarts. So with that being said, let’s talk even about alternatives to get and become.

[00:05:50] We can use other verbs instead of get and become, for example, we can say she fell ill and was taken to hospital instead of get ill or become ill. Remember, what we’re trying to do here is to talk about different colocations you can use. And if you remember what we said, when we first talked about colocations, they will give you variety and your English will be richer.

[00:06:13] You’re not going to be repetitive and use the same words over and over again. I’m just saying that so that you can appreciate why we are talking about alternatives to get and become. So, as we said, we can say she fell ill. Instead of she got ill or she became ill. We can use the same verb with silent instead of get silent or become silent.

[00:06:33] We can say everyone fell silent when they heard the shocking news. And we can use grow as well instead of get or become like, if we want to say, as my father grew older, he spent less time working or the noise grew louder and soon we realized it was a plane approaching. So far, we’ve talked mostly about alternatives of get, but I want you to pay attention.

[00:07:01] It is true. That get is almost usable anywhere you want, but sometimes it is wrong choice. And here I will talk about some cases where we can overuse or even misuse get. So here I will give you some examples where get is wrongly used and of course we’ll replace get with the correct verb. Now let’s start with the first example.

[00:07:22] I was able to get new friends. Now it might sound okay to say, get new friends, but actually we don’t say get new friends, no matter how logical that might seem. We don’t say get new friends. We say, make new friends. Instead of saying that I should say I was able to make new friends, not get new friends, make new friends.

[00:07:43] Now another example a year ago, he got a heart attack. Again, it might sound logical, but we don’t say get a heart attack instead we can use, have, or suffer. We can say a year ago he had a heart attack or a year ago he suffered a heart attack. And now for another example, if I get a child of my own, one day, I will do this.

[00:08:06] I will do that. Now here again, we don’t get a child. We have a child. If I have a child of my own, one day, I will do this. I will do that. And now let’s take a look at this example I was getting crazy. Now also might sound logical, but we don’t say get crazy. We say go crazy. I was going crazy. And now for the final example, for this episode in June, I got a baby James and here again, we don’t say God or get a baby.

[00:08:38] We say, have a baby in June. I had a baby James. So with that being said, I hope you appreciate the importance of verb. Get I’m not saying that verb get is not important. Actually. It’s one of the most important verbs in English. But what we’re trying to learn here is that get, is not the only verb in English because I can hear it sometimes and I can see it in some people’s writing.

[00:08:59] They use get over and over and over as if it were the only verb in English. Don’t do that. That will make your English weak, even when get is correct. Use get of course, but don’t overuse it. And more importantly, don’t misuse it. Try to use the other verbs I told you about. And remember the power of co-locations will give your writing and speaking variety and better style.

[00:09:22] Now with that being said, let me remind you again, that you can find links in the description of this episode. That will take you to the show notes on our website, English plus podcast.com, where you can practice everything you’re learning here. We have PDF practice worksheets, and more, you will find on the website.

[00:09:39] And if you like the content, we’re creating, take a link that will take you to Patreon, become our patron and support English plus podcast and help us create more of that content. And there’s also a link that you can use to subscribe to our mailing list. This is your host, Danny. Thank you very much for listening to another episode from English plus podcasts.

[00:09:57] I will see you next time.