#30 - Practice with the chameleon 🦎 verb "to get" in slow(ish) English.

A  chameleon is a lizard that is famous for changing its color to match its surroundings. The verb "to get" is like a chameleon because it changes its meaning like a chameleon changes colors.  In this episode we will practice some of the most common ways we use "to get".
Here are the "forms" (the conjugation) of "to get":
  Present:         I get   we get   they get   you get   he/she/it gets
  Past:   I/we/they/you/he/she/it got
Sometimes “get” is used with  other words  & together the words have a special meaning. We will practice those ”phrasal" "to get”  verbs in another episode. Here are some of the most common ways we use the verb "to get" when we use it alone.
1.   We use  “get” to  mean “to arrive”
          Present: Tom usually gets home at 5:30.
               What time does your plane get to New York?
          Past:  I got to work late yesterday.
              The teachers got to school before the students last week.
 2.  We use  “get” to mean to receive/buy/obtain.
           Present: The children get lots of presents at Christmas time.
               Mary always gets good grades.
               We get our groceries at Safeway.
          Past: Sam got a raise at work last month.
               I got a package from Amazon this morning.
             They got a new car last year.
3.  We use “get” to mean become or to change a state or condition.
       “Get” is like a bridge between two conditions.       
         For example: not sick ---& ----sick :  “get “ is the bridge between sick and not sick:                    She gets sick when she travels.
      not tired--& ---tired: I get tired when I work all day. 
     not cold---& ---cold:  It (the weather ) gets cold in the fall.
     not dark---&---dark: it gets dark later in the summer
Here are some examples when we talk about the past:
Mary got scared when she saw the spider.
The kids got hungry at the park.
They got married last year.
4. One more common use of “to get” is “to understand”:  Oh, now I get it! The students finally got the new math problem.
Listen for the different uses of “get” in our conversation:
D: Hi Latonya. Did you just get home?
L:   Yeah, I got home about an hour ago. It got real busy at work today, so I got home late.
D:  I get it, Latonya. I got home late too. Did you get my message about Wendy?
L: No, I didn’t get it. Did she get back from California?
D: Yes, she got back yesterday.  She got sick on her way home. She got very tired when she was on the plane and when she got home she got right in bed.
L: Wow! That’s too bad! Did she get that job in California?
D: Yes, she got it! 
L: That’s great! Well, I hope she gets better soon!
D: Me too!
L: Well, I’ve got to go!
That "got to go" is using "got to"as a phrasal verb. We will practice using "get" as a phrasal verb in a future episode.
Gotta go! See you soon!

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