Learn 30 phrasal verbs with get, with clear meanings and examples to help you understand them and use them naturally.
If you’re improving your conversational English, preparing for a proficiency exam or using English at work, phrasal verbs with get are particularly useful because you’ll hear them all the time.
Some are much more useful than others in the workplace, so I’ll point those out as we go.
This particular lesson is about phrasal verbs using the verb get. I’ll give you the meaning, explain how we use it and then give you an example. Let’s go through them one at a time.
Watch: 30 phrasal verbs with GET
Prefer to learn by listening and watching? Watch the video first, then use the list below to practise.
Phrasal verbs with get: 1–10
1 get about
Meaning: to travel around or move from one place to another.
- The easiest way to get about in London is by public transport.
- Paris last week, Madrid this week. You really get about, don’t you?
2 get along with somebody
Meaning: to have a friendly or good relationship with somebody.
- Do you get along with your colleagues?
- I get along with most people in the office, although we don’t always agree.
You’ll hear get along with very often in American English. In British English, we also use get on with somebody, which we’ll come to later.
3 get after somebody or something
Meaning: to chase somebody or something.
- Dad, the dog’s got out again. You’d better get after him.
- Don’t just stand there. Get after him before he disappears.
This use is more common in American English.
4 get ahead
Meaning: to make progress or become more successful.
- He joined a really good company because he wanted to get ahead.
- She’s ambitious and wants to get ahead in her career.
It can also have a literal meaning: Can you get ahead of that lorry before we reach the junction?
5 get away
Meaning: to leave somewhere, escape or go away for a short break.
- Do you think we’ll be able to get away this weekend?
- I haven’t had a proper break for months. I’d really like to get away for a few days.
6 get away with something
Meaning: to do something wrong without being punished or suffering the consequences.
- He was late again, but somehow he got away with it.
- You can’t keep missing deadlines and expect to get away with it.
7 get back to somebody
Meaning: to contact somebody again later when you have more information or an answer.
- Leave it with me. I’ll get back to you later.
- I need to check the figures first. I’ll get back to you this afternoon.
This is one you’ll hear all the time at work.
8 get behind
There are two useful meanings.
Meaning 1: to support somebody or something.
- The whole team got behind the new manager.
Meaning 2: to fail to make enough progress.
- I’ve got behind with my work, so I’ll have to catch up this week.
- We’re getting behind schedule.
9 get beyond something
Meaning: to move past a problem or difficult situation.
- We need to get beyond this disagreement and decide what we’re going to do.
- Once we get beyond this problem, the rest should be much easier.
10 get by
Meaning: to manage with what you have, even if it isn’t very much.
- I’m going to struggle to get by on that salary.
- My Spanish isn’t perfect, but I can get by when I’m travelling.
You can also use it when talking about your English: I can get by in English, but meetings at work are still difficult.
Phrasal verbs with GET you’ll hear at work
Quite a few phrasal verbs with get are useful at work.
You don’t need to force them into every conversation, but these are expressions you’ll genuinely hear in meetings, emails, calls and normal conversations with colleagues.
I’ll get back to you
Use this when you need to check something before you give an answer.
- I don’t have the final figures yet. I’ll get back to you this afternoon.
We’re getting behind
Use this when work isn’t progressing as quickly as planned.
- We’re getting behind, so we may need another day.
We need to get beyond this
Use this when one issue is stopping people from making progress.
- We need to get beyond the pricing issue before we can make a final decision.
I get along with the team
Use this when you’re talking about your relationship with other people.
- I get along with everyone in the team.
In British English, you’ll very often hear: I get on well with everyone in the team.
She wants to get ahead
Use this when somebody wants to make progress professionally.
- She’s taken on more responsibility because she wants to get ahead.
Phrasal verbs with get: 11–20
11 get down to something
Meaning: to start giving serious attention to something.
- I’ve got to get down to some serious work because the presentation is due next week.
- Right, let’s get down to business.
At work, you’ll often hear: Let’s get down to it. It means let’s stop talking about other things and start dealing with the work.
12 get in
Meaning 1: to enter or arrive.
- What time did you get in last night?
- Get in the car. We’re already late.
You may also hear expressions such as Let’s get some food in for the weekend. Here, get some food in means buy or order food so that you have it available.
13 get into something
Meaning: to become interested or involved in something, or to enter a particular mood or state.
- I’ve really got into photography recently.
- He gets into a bad mood whenever we talk about the budget.
At work, you might also hear: I don’t want to get into all the details right now. Here, it means start discussing something in detail.
14 get somebody into something
Meaning: to cause somebody to become involved in a situation, often a difficult one.
- He got his colleague into trouble by giving him the wrong information.
- I got her into difficulty because I forgot to send the payment.
15 get off to a good / bad start
The full expression is get off to a good start or get off to a bad start.
Meaning: to begin something successfully or unsuccessfully.
- The new project has got off to a very good start.
- I was trying to make a good impression, but I think we got off to a bad start.
This is very useful when you’re talking about a new project, job, client relationship or piece of work.
16 get off something
Meaning: to leave a bus, train, plane, bicycle or another form of transport.
- Get off the bus at the next stop and walk back towards the station.
Remember: you get in a car, but you get on a bus and get off a bus.
17 get somebody off
Meaning: to help somebody avoid or leave a duty, responsibility or difficult situation.
- I managed to get him off the night shift so he could go to the match.
You’ll also hear this expression in legal English when somebody avoids a punishment or charge.
18 get on with something
Meaning: to continue doing something, particularly after a delay or interruption.
- Come on. Let’s get on with the work.
- We’ve spent enough time discussing the problem. We need to get on with it.
At work, Let’s get on with it is quite common. Be a little careful with the tone — if you say it too sharply, it can sound impatient.
19 get on with somebody
Meaning: to have a good relationship with somebody.
- I get on very well with my manager.
- Do you get on with the new people in your team?
This is particularly common in British English. Compare: I get on with my colleagues. / I get along with my colleagues. Both are correct.
20 get somebody or something out
Meaning: to remove somebody or something from a place.
- The police had to break the window to get the child out of the car.
- Can you help me get these boxes out of the meeting room?
Listen to the lesson
Listen to this lesson on Speak Better English with Harry, Episode 414, then come back and work through the rest of the list.
Listening and reading together makes the phrasal verbs much easier to remember.
Phrasal verbs with get: 21–30
21 get over something or somebody
Meaning: to recover from an illness, difficult experience or emotional problem.
- He got over the flu surprisingly quickly.
- It took the team a while to get over the disappointment of losing the contract.
22 get past somebody or something
Meaning 1: to move beyond somebody or something that is blocking your way.
- Excuse me, can I get past you?
Meaning 2: to overcome a problem or difficulty.
- We need to get past this disagreement before we can make a decision.
- They still haven’t managed to get past the budget problem.
That second meaning is useful at work.
23 get around
Meaning: to travel or move from one place to another.
- It’s quite easy to get around the city once you understand the public transport system.
It’s similar to get about.
24 get around something
Meaning: to find a way to deal with a problem or obstacle.
- We need to find a way to get around this technical problem.
In British English, you’ll also very often hear get round a problem. For example: There must be a way to get round this.
25 get around somebody
Meaning: to persuade somebody to agree to something.
- We’ll have to see if we can get around him and persuade him to approve the change.
Again, in British English, get round somebody is very common: I’m sure we can get round him. It suggests persuasion, sometimes with a little charm, so be careful where you use it.
26 get through something
Meaning: to complete something difficult or survive a difficult period.
- I’ve got to get through all this paperwork before Friday.
- We’ve still got three points to get through before the meeting finishes.
- It was a difficult few months, but we got through it.
This is another very useful one at work.
27 get to know / understand / like
These are useful expressions with get, although they’re not quite the same as the classic verb + particle phrasal verbs above. They describe a gradual change.
- Once I got to know her, I understood her much better.
- It took me a while to get to understand how the system worked.
- I didn’t like the job at first, but eventually I got to like it.
28 get together
Meaning: to meet with other people.
- Why don’t we all get together next weekend?
- Can we get together tomorrow morning and go through the figures?
At work, get together is a more informal way of talking about meeting somebody.
29 get up
Meaning: to rise from a sitting or lying position, or to leave your bed in the morning.
- What time do you get up? I’m usually up just before six.
30 get up to something
Meaning: to do something.
- What did you get up to at the weekend?
- What have you been getting up to lately?
It can also suggest that somebody is doing something mischievous: What are those children getting up to now?
How these phrasal verbs sound at work
Let’s put a few of them into one normal workplace conversation.
Anna: Have we got the final figures from Finance?
Marco: Not yet. I’ll speak to them this afternoon and get back to you.
Anna: Okay. We’re getting a little behind now.
Marco: I know. We’ve still got three points to get through before tomorrow’s meeting.
Anna: Can we get together at four and go through them?
Marco: Sounds good.
There are four useful expressions here:
- get back to somebody
- get behind
- get through something
- get together
You’ll hear that short reply all the time at work, but does it always mean that somebody has said yes?
If you’re not sure, read Does “Sounds Good” Mean Yes at Work?
Check your understanding
Choose the best phrasal verb before you look at the answer.
1. I need to check with Finance first. I’ll you this afternoon.
Show answer
get back to
2. We’ve lost two days because of the technical problem, so we’re schedule.
Show answer
getting behind
3. Right, we’ve talked about this long enough. Let’s the main issue.
Show answer
get down to
4. The project has a really good start.
Show answer
got off to
5. We’ve still got four items to before the meeting finishes.
Show answer
get through
6. We need to find a way to this problem.
Show answer
get around / get round
Do you use English in meetings?
It is important to build your vocabulary, but you also need the right words and phrases when you use English at work. This can be difficult when you need to respond quickly and English isn’t your first language.
Try 8 real meeting situations and see which English sounds natural.
Take the free quiz →How to learn phrasal verbs with get
Okay, there you have them. 30 phrasal verbs and expressions with the verb get.
Don’t try to sit down and learn all 30 in one evening. You’ll probably remember very few of them.
Pick four or five that you can actually imagine yourself using. If you use English at work, you could start with:
- get back to somebody
- get behind
- get down to something
- get off to a good start
- get on with something
- get through something
Make your own examples. Say them aloud. Then listen for them when other people speak.
And when you get comfortable with those, come back and pick another few.
As I always say, you have to practise them. That’s how you get them into your English.
If you need more examples, you can always contact me through the website.
Thanks for listening. Thanks for watching. This is Harry saying goodbye. Join me again for another lesson.
More phrasal verbs and Business English
If this lesson was useful, these will help you sound clearer and more natural at work.
- 22 Phrasal Verbs for Business English Useful phrasal verbs you’ll hear when people talk about projects, companies, markets and everyday business.
- Phrasal Verbs with Work Learn common combinations with work, including work on, work around, work through and work towards.
- 14 Phrasal Verbs Related to Communication Learn phrasal verbs such as get across, get through, talk over and put across for speaking and communication.