Thursday, May 16th

A. Phrasal Verbs with GET

1. GET ABOUT

to go from place to place

Mary gets about the city quite well without a car.

2. GET ACROSS

to communicate clearly or convincingly

No matter how hard I tried I couldn't get the message across to her that I cared.

3. GET ALONG

to have a congenial relationship with someone

Jane and John get along quite well, but Mary and Max can?t even stand to be in the same room.

4. GET AROUND

to evade, circumvent; to go from place to place

George hired many lawyers to help him find ways to get around various laws.

Since my car broke down, I?ve been getting around by bicycle.

5. GET AWAY

to escape

Max had a dream that a very large monkey was attacking him and he couldn't get away.

6. GET BACK

to have something returned OR to return

When Mary called off her engagement with Max, Max tried to get the ring back.

Eric got back late from the football match.

7. GET BY

to survive or manage

We were able to get by on just a few dollars per week.

8. GET DOWN

to descend or lower OR to ive one's consideration or attention

Max got down on his knees and prayed.

Now that we've finished our lunch, I am ready to get down to business.

9. GET DOWN

to depress, exhaust or discourage

Talking about politics really gets me down.

10. GET IN

to arrive

When did you get in from Paris?

11. GET OFF

to receive extreme pleasure

Those children get off on burning ants with a magnifying glass.

12 GET OFF

to receive a lesser punishment than what might be expected

Mary got off with only two years in prison for aggravated fraud.

13. GET OFF

to dismount

Max got off his bicycle to tie his shoe

14. GET OUT

to become known

The news about Mary got out very quickly.

15. GET OUT

to escape or leave

Sam wouldn't stop talking so we asked him to get out.

16. GET OVER

 to overcome, recover from

Max finally got over the flu.

17. GET THROUGH

to finish something completely; to arrive at the end of something

It took me almost two weeks to get through that book.

18. GET TOGETHER

to meet

Let's get together tomorrow night.

19. GET UP

to rise to one's feet or arise from bed; to climb

Mary gets up at sunrise to go jogging every morning.

20. GET ON

to continue doing something
The teacher asked us to get on with our work quietly after our break

21. GET ON

to enter a bus, train, plane, etc
He got on the train only seconds before its departure

a) For each space in each sentence, use the verb Get (in the correct tense) with one of the prepositions from the box. Sometimes you need to put the object/pronoun between the main verb and the preposition - in these cases, the object/pronoun can be found in the brackets.

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Over On Out Around Through Across

Down Away with Around to By On Up

1. I was late for work because I didn't  in time.

2. Can we finish this tomorrow? I am really tired and this project is  my nerves.

3. That lazy kid always  of doing sport for some reason or other.

4. The buses in this town are awful and I prefer to use my mountain bike to .

5. It is raining again. Weather like this really  (me).

6. The killer  his crime because the police couldn't find any evidence.

7. I asked him to look for that report but he said he never had time to  doing it. He is lazy, I think!

8. We will find it easier to  once you get that part-time job at the supermarket.

9. She never  losing that dream job of hers and has been depressed ever since.

10. He didn't  with his boss and finally decided to leave the company rather than stay there working for him.

11. I can't  to Tom on this phone - there's no signal in this building.

12. You need to  to your wife how terrible life would be without her. Maybe then, she will change her mind about the divorce.

b) Fill in the blanks using the words in the box below

   around to      at      down      down to      in      into      out      out of      over with      up on

Becoming a chef isn't easy. It seems like I just cook twenty-four hours a day. From 8 AM to 3 PM I work at a restaurant downtown to earn money to pay for cooking school. From 4 PM to 7 PM I have classes, and then I have to take the train home. I don't usually get  until after 8 PM and I have to make myself dinner before I start doing my cooking homework. By the time I get  doing my assignments, I am exhausted and I can't stand looking at food. Unfortunately, I have no choice, I have to practice preparing special dishes for class.

Practicing is constantly a problem; either my roommates are bothering me or the dog is trying to get  the food. Yesterday, while I was trying to prepare steak tartar and chocolate mousse, the dog ran into the kitchen and tried to get  the counter. I screamed, "Get !" but he wouldn't stop. My roommates aren't much better. While I was trying to get the dog  the kitchen, my roommate, Fred, showed up and got  the bag of chocolate I needed for my mousse. I took one look at him eating my chocolate and yelled, "Get !" 

By the time I got  work, it was after 10 o'clock. I just wanted to get the cooking ; I didn't even care if I did a good job. How am I supposed to learn to cook under these conditions?

B. Top 5 GETTING OUT of work excuses

 

1. “I Slept In”

Reprieve: 1-2 hours | Minimum notice period: 30 minutes late.

Advice: Never use this excuse unless you wish to be at the unemployment office soon.

2. Doctor’s Appointment

Reprieve: 2-8 hours | Minimum notice period: 3-5 days 

AKA “I am interviewing with another company.” Everyone knows it. Advice: Use sparingly, and never on consecutive days, unless you are willing to wear a fake cast to work and/or come up with an awesome story.

3. I’m Sick

Reprieve: 1-3 days | Minimum notice period: 1-2 hours. 

The oldest trick in the book. When used sparingly, your boss and coworkers will actually appreciate you not spreading a virus around the office. Advice: safe to use once every quarter, or use a bunch in a row so that people think you are really sick.

 4. Dentist Appointment

Reprieve: 2-4 hours | Minimum Notice period: 3-5 days

This is different than a doctor’s appointment in terms of credibility. Unless you are getting half your face removed, your boss will expect you to get back to work after the appointment. Advice: Use once every six months to give you a morning or afternoon off. If you need a series of mornings or afternoons for interviewing, develop a root canal issue.

 5. My car broke down

Reprieve: 1 day | Notice period: None

 

Pretty safe as long as you only use it once or twice during your employment with a company, otherwise you look like either a bum or an unimaginative liar. Used correctly, no one will ever know                                                                                                                                                            Advice: Save this emergency card for extremely special occasions and make sure that you complain about the price quoted by your mechanic; it adds legitimacy

What about you?  Have you ever used one of these excuses to get off from work? Which one and do you think your coworkers and boss believed you?