Phrases with Get

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Get is one of the most common verbs in English. Phrases with get can mean many different things depending on the context.[1]https://englishpost.org/expressions-with-get/[2]https://www.espressoenglish.net/36-expressions-with-get/

phrases with get

Phrases with Get

Receive

Get an e-mail

I didn’t get your e-mail.

Get a present

I got a lot of presents for Christmas.

Get grades

She got good grades in High School.

Get a phone call

Did you get my phone call?

Buy or Obtain

Get a job

I have to get a job this summer to earn some money.

Get shoes

Go get your shoes so we can go on a run.

Get [something]

What did you get at the store?

Get + Adjective

Get angry

He gets angry very easily.

Get tired

I got very tired yesterday when I was working out.

Get dark

It is going to get dark soon.

Get + Comparative

Get better

The weather is getting better.

Get worse

I think my illness is getting worse.

Get more expensive

Gas is only getting more expensive.

Get + Preposition (Phrasal Verb)

Get up

I get up at 6:30 am every morning.

Get along with

I am a friendly person. I can get along with anyone.

Get out

Sorry, I am not free at that time. I don’t get out of work until 7 pm.

Get + A Place

These phrases with get mean to arrive somewhere.

For example:

Get home

I get home at 6pm every day.

Get there

When will you get there?

References[+]

Building Words with Suffixes

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Suffixes are similar to prefixes. However, they are different in that you add them to the end of a word in order to give it a different meaning.[1]https://www.thoughtco.com/common-suffixes-in-english-1692725

The Most Common English Suffixes

The 4 most common English suffixes are: -ate, -en, -(i)fy, and -ise.[2]http://www.uefap.com/vocab/build/building.htm

-ate

This suffix means cause to be.

For example:

  • differentiate
  • duplicate
  • fabricate
  • liquidate
  • pollinate

-en

This suffix means cause to be.

For example:

  • awaken
  • fasten
  • moisten
  • shorten

-(i)fy

This suffix means cause to be.

For example:

  • classify
  • exemplify
  • justify
  • simplify

-ise

This suffix means cause to be.

For example:

  • characterise
  • specialise
  • stabilise
  • symbolise
  • visualise

Some Common Suffixes

There are a lost of suffixes in English.

Below are some of the most common. If you memorize these suffixes, it can help you identify and understand words that you might have never seen before.

SuffixMeaningExample
-ablecapable of beingedible
-acystate or qualityprivacy
-alact or process ofrefusal
-alpertaining to regional
-ancestate or quality ofmaintenance
-atebecomeregulate
-domplace or state of beingfreedom
-enbecomeenlighten
-esquereminiscent of picturesque
-fulnotable forfanciful
-icpertaining tomusical
-ifymake or becometerrify
-iouscharacterized bynutritious
-ishhaving the quality ofchildish
-ismdoctrine, beliefcommunism
-istone whochemist
-ityquality ofinactivity
-ivehave the nature of creative
-izebecomecivilize
-lesswithoutendless
-mentcondition ofargument
-nessstate of beingheaviness
-shipposition heldownership
-sionstate of beingconcession
-ycharacterized bysleazy

References[+]

Building Words with Prefixes

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Prefixes are letters that you add to the front of a word in order to give it a different meaning. In many cases, it can actually completely reverse the original meaning of the word.[1]https://dictionary.cambridge.org/grammar/british-grammar/prefixes

 The Most Common English Prefixes

 The 4 most common English prefixes are: dis-, in-, re-, and un-.

In fact, they make up around 58% of all English words with prefixes![2]https://howtospell-letterpatterns.co.uk/building-words-prefixes/

Dis-

This prefix means negative, not, or opposite.

For example:

  • disadvantage
  • disagree
  • disappear
  • disgrace
  • dishonest
  • dislike
  • disloyal
  • disobey
  • dissatisfied
  • distrust

In-

This prefix means negative, not, or opposite.

For example:

  • inaccurate
  • incompetent
  • incomplete
  • incorrect
  • indecent
  • indirect
  • inefficient
  • informal
  • insecure

Re-

This prefix means reverse, back, or again.

For example:

  • rebuild
  • redo
  • regain
  • remodel
  • repaint
  • replay
  • retell
  • retry
  • return
  • reuse
  • reword

Un-

This prefix means negative, not, or opposite.

For example:

  • unable
  • uncover
  • unequal
  • uneven
  • unfair
  • unkind
  • untidy
  • unusual

Hyphens

There isn’t any absolute rules for using hyphens with prefixes. The best way to known if there is a hyphen or not is to look in the dictionary.

However, there are some general rules including:

  • Use a hyphen if the prefix comes before a capital letter such as anti-European.
  • With single letter prefixes such as e-mail. However, this rule is also slowly changing.
  • With a prefix that end in a vowel and come before a word starting in a vowel such as co-operate.

Some Common Prefixes

There are a lot of prefixes in English.

Below are some of the most common. If you memorize these prefixes, it can help you identify and understand words that you might have never seen before.

Prefix Meaning Example
anti- against, opposite antimatter
de- opposite, remove deactivate
il- not illegal
im- not impossible
ir- not irresponsible
non- not nonliving
un- not unable
fore- before foreman
pre- before preplan
em- to make happen empower
en- to make happen encircle
over- to much, above overreact
super- above, beyond superman
sub- under subpar
under- under, not enough underwater
inter- between interstate
mid- middle midway
mis- wrong misbehave
semi- half, part semicircle
trans- across, change transformational

References[+]

Common Intensifying Adverbs

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There are certain adverbs called intensifying adverbs that commonly are used with other words in order to strengthen their meaning.[1]https://biblioberlitz.com/mapfre/course/esther-grammar-c1-c2-advanced/lessons/esther-intensifying-adverbs

Below are some common adverb collocations that you should know.

Intensifying Adverbs

Bitterly

This intensifying adverb is often used to express a strong negative emotion.

For example:

  • Cold: It was a bitterly cold winter.
  • Disappointed: We were bitterly disappointed in losing the match.
  • Regret: I bitterly regretted not studying for the exam.
  • Resent: She bitterly resented us for abandoning her.

Deeply

This intensifying adverb is often used with strong emotions.

For example:

  • Ashamed: I am deeply ashamed of my actions.
  • Hurt: We were deeply hurt that you did not come to the funeral.
  • Move: The movie was deeply moving.
  • Offended: They were deeply offended for not being invited to the party.

Highly

This intensifying adverb is often used to express probability.

For example:

  • Controversial: That is a highly controversial topic.
  • Effective: This is a highly effective form of therapy.
  • Probable: It is highly probable that you will get in a crash.
  • Unlikely: It is highly unlikely that anything bad will happen.

Ridiculously

This intensifying adverb is often used when something is extreme or difficult to believe.

For example:

  • Cheap: The sale is great. All the stuff in the store are ridiculously cheap!
  • Easy: The exam was ridiculously easy.
  • Long: That was a ridiculously long journey.
  • Small: We have a ridiculously small car for the number of people we need to take.

Strongly

This intensifying adverb is often used to express opinions.

For example:

  • Believe: I strongly believe that exercise and a healthy diet are good for you.
  • Deny: The defendant strongly denied their involvement in the crime.
  • Dislike: She strongly dislikes vegetables.
  • Support: We strongly support your decision.

References[+]

Similes and Metaphors

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Similes and metaphors are two of the most popular ways that writers can create a mental image for their reader. They help make a text more interesting.

similes

Similes

You can use similes to compare two seemingly unlike things by using the words “like” or “as”.

For example:

  • He is as tall as a giant!
  • It is like the North Pole in this room.
  • Your skin is white as snow.
  • I slept like a baby.
  • You have eyes as black as midnight.
  • You are walking as slow as a snail! Hurry up!
  • She has reflexes like a cat.
  • Your smile brightens the room like the sun.
  • Run like the wind!

Metaphors

You can use metaphors to compare two seemingly unlike things. However, unlike a simile you don’t use “like” or “as”. Rather, you say that something ‘is’ something else.[1]https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/article/marvellous-metaphors

This helps make the image much stronger than a simile.

For example:

  • You are a giant!
  • It is the North Pole in this room.
  • Thanks for helping! You’re an angel.
  • That computer is an old dinosaur.

Practice Exercise

Read each of the following sentences. Identify the two subjects being compared and state whether the sentence is a simile or a metaphor.

 10%

Question 1 of 10

1. Their voice is as tiny as a mouse.

Question 1 of 10

Question 2 of 10

2. She has the heart of a lion.

Question 2 of 10

Question 3 of 10

3. She is as smart as a fox.

Question 3 of 10

Question 4 of 10

4. The situation is a volcano ready to explode.

Question 4 of 10

Question 5 of 10

5. My hands are as cold as ice.

Question 5 of 10

Question 6 of 10

6. He has abs as hard as a rock.

Question 6 of 10

Question 7 of 10

7. She has hair as white as snow.

Question 7 of 10

Question 8 of 10

8. That man is a pig.

Question 8 of 10

Question 9 of 10

9. Our neighbors are angels. They help us all the time.

Question 9 of 10

Question 10 of 10

10. You are as sharp as a tack.

Question 10 of 10


 

References[+]

Reflexive Pronouns

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Reflexive pronouns are pronouns ending in –self or –selves that are used when the subject and object of a sentence are the same.[1]https://www.grammarly.com/blog/reflexive-pronouns/

reflexive pronouns

Direct Objects

Reflexive pronouns can be a direct object in the sentence.

For example:

  • I hurt myself playing hockey.
  • The girl kicked herself.
  • I am teaching myself to speak English.

Indirect Objects

They can be an indirect object in the sentence.

For example:

  • We made ourselves some coffee.
  • She made herself a sandwich for lunch.
  • They can teach themselves the lesson.

Intensive Pronouns

Intensive pronouns are a type of reflexive pronoun that is used to emphasize the subject.[2]https://slideplayer.com/slide/9013049/

For example:

  • She herself did all the work.
  • He himself paid for the meal.
  • I myself did all of the work.

Common Reflexive Pronoun Errors

Reflexive pronouns are commonly misused in the following grammatical areas:

Compound Subjects

For example:

Incorrect: Susie and myself will study.

The easiest way to understand that this is incorrect is by splitting up the subjects.

You can’t say

Myself will study.

Rather you would say

I will study.

Therefore, the correct sentence becomes

Correct: Susie and I will study.

Compound Objects

For example:

Incorrect: You can hand in the project to Frank and myself.

The easiest way to understand that this is incorrect is by splitting up the objects.

You can’t say

You can hand in the project to myself.

Rather you would say

You can hand in the project to me.

Therefore, the correct sentence becomes

Correct: You can hand in the project to Frank and me.

References[+]

Inversion

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In English, an inversion is the reversal of the normal word order, putting the verb before the subject.[1]https://www.thoughtco.com/inversion-grammar-term-1691193

So when do we use inversions?

Questions

The most well-known case to use an inversion is in a question.

For example:

Phrase: You are hungry.

Question: Are you hungry?

In this case, the verb goes before the subject. However, there are cases where an auxiliary verb is used. In those cases, only the auxiliary verb goes before the subject.

For example:

Phrase: She is going to go to the store.

Question: Is she going to go to the store.

Negative Adverbs

You can use a inversions when a negative adverb or adverb phrase is at the beginning of a sentence.

For example:

  • Never had I seen such a beautiful sunset in my whole life.
  • Seldom do we eat so well.
  • Nowhere have I had such bad service.

Conditionals

You can replace the “if” in a conditional with a inversions when using words such as had, were, and should.

This is a more formal way of speaking.

For example:

Normal conditional: If I had studied, I would have done well on the test.

Inversion: Had I studied, I would have done well on the test.

Adverbial Expression of Place

You can use an inversion to replace an adverbial expression of place. Similar to the previous example this is quite formal.

For example:

Adverbial Expression of Place: All the candy that we had received for trick-or-treating on Halloween was on the table.

Inversion: On the table was all the candy we had received for trick-or-treating on Halloween.

So + Adjective…that

You can use an inversion after the phrase “so + adjective…that”.

For example:

Original sentence: The turkey was so big that we couldn’t fit it in the oven.

Inversion: So big was the turkey that we couldn’t fit it in the oven.

Practice Exercises

Restructure the following phrases to form an inversion.

Please go to Inversion to view this quiz

References[+]

Prepositions in Relative Clauses

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In English, we often use prepositions in relative clauses. These include words such as at, on, in, before, and after.[1]https://www.ef.com/wwen/english-resources/english-grammar/preposition-placement-relative-clauses/

Formal Speech

In formal speech, we place the preposition before the relative pronoun.

For example:

  • Is that the person with whom she talked?
  • The lawyer with whom we are arguing against is known as the best.
  • She liked the roommates with whom she lived.
  • The chapel in which they had their wedding was very beautiful.
  • That is the car in which he prefers to drive.
  • The neighborhood in which we lived was full of mansions.
  • The classroom in which we studied was freezing!

As you can see, this sounds rather formal. As such, in informal speech we tend to follow a different pattern.

Informal Speech

In informal speech, prepositions in relative clauses go after the relative clause.

For example:

  • Is that the person (who) she talked with?
  • The lawyer (who) we are arguing with is known as the best.
  • She liked the roommates (that) she lived with.
  • The chapel (that) that they had their wedding in was very beautiful.
  • That is the car (that) he prefers to drive in.
  • The neighborhood (that) we lived in was full of mansions.
  • The classroom (that) we studied in was freezing!

References[+]

Connotations

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Connotations are ideas or feelings which a word invokes for a person in addition to its literal or primary meaning. This is in contrast to a denotation, which is the literal meaning of a word.

Examples of Connotations

In English, connotations can have negative, neutral, or positive meanings.

The best way to understand this is by looking at a few examples.

  • skinny/thin/slender

He is too skinny. The connotation is that the person is underweight and unhealthy.

He is thin. There is no connotation.

He is slender. The connotation is that the person looks good.

  • bizarre/unusual/extraordinary

This is a bizarre situation. The connotation is that situation is strange.

This is an unusual situation. There is no additional connotation.

This is an extraordinary situation. The connotation is that this situation is unique in a good way.

  • domineering/forceful/assertive

My boss is domineering. The connotation is that my boss is very bossy in a bad way.

My boss is forceful. No additional connotation.

My boss is assertive. The connotation is that my boss is a good leader and can get their points across.

Why do we use connotations?

To influence people

One of the best reasons to use connotation is to influence your reader. By carefully picking the words that you use, you can bias or not bias people into thinking what you want.

For example, I can say:

My parents are stingy.

I could use many different words instead such as prudent, careful with their money, thrifty, frugal, ect…[1]https://www.grammar-monster.com/glossary/connotation.htm#exam

However, I carefully chose the word stingy. Stingy gives the connotation that my parents don’t care about me and only care about themselves, especially with regards to money.

To be concise and precise

The best writers and speakers are concise and precise with their words. This means that they are able to use the least amount of words to fully convey their meaning.[2]https://literaryterms.net/when-and-how-to-use-connotation/ This is where connotation comes into play.

For example, I can say

My boss is very thorough with his work.

Or I can say

My boss is very nitpicky with his work.

This is much stronger than the previous word as it gets to the connotation that my boss is overly concerned with insignificant details.

Example Exercises

Read each sentence and choose the word that has a positive connotation.

Please go to Connotations to view this quiz

References[+]

Word Pairs

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In English, there are certain word pairs that always go together. If you try to reverse their order it sounds weird to a native speaker.[1]https://www.sightwordsgame.com/vocabulary-words/word-pairs/

Below are a few popular examples of English word pairs.[2]https://www.thoughtco.com/nonreversible-word-pairs-1209931

Bacon and Eggs

Would you like some bacon and eggs for breakfast?

Back and Forth

They kept on arguing back and forth.

Bed and Breakfast

We stayed in a beautiful little bed and breakfast by the beach.

Brick and Mortar

It is an online only store. It doesn’t have any brick and mortar locations.

Bride and Groom

The bride and groom looked so happy walking down the aisle together.

Business and Pleasure

I try to not mix business and pleasure.

Cause and Effect

There is a clear cause and effect to the situation that you find yourself in.

Coffee and Donuts

Would you like to get some coffee and donuts for breakfast?

Cream and Sugar

Do you take cream and sugar with your coffee?

Dead or Alive

The wanted poster said that they wanted the criminal dead or alive.

Fun and Games

It is all fun and games until someone gets hurt.

Front and Center

The teacher told me to stand front and center to give my presentation.

Hammer and Nail

This job requires a hammer and nail to complete.

Knife and Fork

Can you set knives and forks on the table?

Ladies and Gentlemen

Ladies and Gentlemen can I have your attention please?

Law and Order

Law and order is the rule of the land.

Life or Death

The people in the sinking boat are in a life or death situation.

Lost and Found

Check the lost and found to see if you can find your lost cellphone.

Pots and Pans

I had to clean all the pots and pans.

Rain or Shine

We will be there rain or shine.

Salt and Pepper

Can you pass me the salt and pepper please?

Sooner or Later

Sooner or later you will need to study if you want to do well in the class.

Sweet and Sour

I really like sweet and sour chicken.

References[+]