Hi everyone. I'm Jennifer from English with Jennifer. Let's talk about unfortunate situations
just for a moment. Have you ever been seriously lost? My husband and I got lost the first time
we came to Boston. This was before anyone had a GPS, so we had to rely on a road map on paper. We
got so confused when one street changed its name as we were driving along. We got all mixed up,
and it took almost two hours to get to our destination. We took a lot of wrong turns.
We all have funny stories. Right? We tell them as part of a conversation.
That's why the passive with "get" works so well. The passive with "be" tends to be more formal
and more typical of writing, but the passive with "get" is very common in everyday spoken English.
We use "get" + the past participle of the main verb. We don't name an agent.
There's no by-phrase. My husband and I got lost. We got so confused.
We got all mixed up. This is more about describing our state rather than receiving an action.
The passive with get is used with a lot of verbs that suggest bad news or bad luck.
Haley got fired. My former boss got arrested.
Did you get hurt? Be careful. You'll get yourself killed!
Notice in that last example how we might use a reflexive pronoun to suggest the
person's responsibility or involvement in the matter.
But not all verbs have to express something unfortunate.
Let me share a short text. Can you spot all six examples of the passive with "get"?
My friend Emma just got married. It's rather surprising because they got engaged only one month
ago. I think they wanted to get hitched before Emma starts grad school. She got accepted to her
top choice, and the semester starts next month. It was a small wedding, and I'm happy I got invited.
It was a simple but beautiful ceremony. They didn't get caught up with all the details.
Maybe more couples should plan quick weddings like that one.
Do you see where I used the passive with "get"?
Look. Got married, got engaged, get hitched (which is an informal way of saying "get married"),
got accepted, got invited,
get caught up.
Another thing to keep in mind is that the passive with "get" can signal the start of some state
or a change in state as in: get engaged, get married, get divorced, get elected, get drafted.
All these actions mean that the subject has some kind of new status.
When was the last time you got invited somewhere special?
When was the last time you got seriously lost?
Post your answers in the comments. All right. Let's end here before you get tired of grammar.
That's all for now. Please like the video if you found it
useful. As always, thanks for watching and happy studies!
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