The Grammaring Guide to English Grammar with Exercises

The passive with GET

GET + PAST PARTICIPLE

Get is often used instead of be in the passive voice in informal spoken English to refer to an action that happens by accident or unexpectedly:

Their car

got stolen

in front of their house last night.

Jerry

got fired

because he was always late for work.

Get expresses action and change and is only used with action verbs, not state verbs:

Jerry

was fired

because he was always late for work.

Jerry

got fired

because he was always late for work.

(

fire

is an action verb)

Nothing

is known

about the thief.

*

Nothing

gets known

about the thief.

(

know

is a state verb)

As get in the passive voice expresses action, it makes it possible to differentiate between an action and a state if it is not otherwise clear:

The living room window

was broken

.

(state or action)

The living room window

got broken

.

(action)

The passive with be and the agent mentioned also makes the distinction clear:

The living room window

was broken by the burglar

.

(action)

A reflexive pronoun after get indicates that the recipient of the action is in some way involved in or responsible for what happened:

He

got injured

while playing football.

(it was an accident)

He

got himself injured

while trying bike stunts.

(it was partly his fault)

The get passive is also used in certain idiomatic expressions:

get dressed, get washed, get engaged, get married, get divorced, get lost, get mixed up, get started

I took a shower and

got dressed

.

When

did

they

get married

?

Have

you ever

got lost

while travelling?

Quotes:

The secret of getting ahead is getting started. - Mark Twain

Related topics:

Form: passive voice

State verbs and action verbs