Get Ready

Get must be one of the most versatile words in the English language. It has many different meanings and uses. So it deserves special attention. We’re going to focus on the usage of get with adjectives and past participles.

If we use get + adjective, it has a meaning similar to become. For example, get old means become old. Let’s take a look at this get expression in context:

I got dirty when I fell in the mud.

Get ready for the party.

Now take a look at what happens to the meaning of the sentences when we add an object in the middle:

I got my pants dirty when I fell in the mud.

Get the children ready for the party

By using the structure get + object + adjective, we change the meaning slightly to “make somebody/something become”.

Just as easy to form is get + past participle. Its use has a reflexive quality. It expresses what someone does to themselves. For example:

I got cleaned up. = I cleaned myself up.

I got dressed quickly. = I dressed myself quickly.

And just like with adjectives, we can add an object in the middle to change the meaning of the sentence. Check out these examples.

I got my pants cleaned up.

I got the children dressed quickly

Here, get + object + past participle means to finish doing something.

These forms are very simple to use, and they are very commonly used. So, get wise to its usages!