229. ¿Qué significa get en realidad?

La clave para entender el uso de get está en que siempre describe un cambio de algún tipo. La diferencia entre being married (‘estar casado/a’) y not being married (‘no estar casado/a’), por ejemplo, es getting divorced (‘divorciarse’):

I don’t have a coffeeI’m going to get a coffeeI’ll have a coffee

I didn’t have a coldI got a coldI have a cold

I’d never been sailingI got to go sailingI’ve been sailing

A veces el vocabulario no permite apreciar de manera clara el cambio descrito. La diferencia, por ejemplo, entre lying down (‘estar tumbado’) y standing (‘estar de pie’) es get up. Lo mismo ocurre en los siguientes ejemplos:

I don’t understand a jokeI get it!I understand the joke.

I had a jobI got the sackI don’t have a job

Aunque su significado implícito es siempre el de un cambio, la clave para sentirse cómodo con get (así como con muchos otros verbos que parecen tener varios significados) es centrarse en las estructuras gramaticales utilizadas con la palabra. Por ejemplo, el uso más básico de get se aprecia cuando precede a una noun phrase y representa ideas que giran en torno al concepto de ‘obtener’ (por cualquier medio) o ‘coger’:

Margaret gets the bus every morning.

I used to get about $70 a day in tips as a waiter.

Get a doctor, quick! This man’s having a heart attack.

La fórmula «(get) + noun phrase + noun phrase» se utiliza para expresar ideas como ‘dar’ y ‘traer’:

Can you get me a beer, Ely? I’m a bit short of cash this week.

I’m going to get my eldest a mobile, and (get) the youngest a hairdryer for Christmas.

Cuando precede a un adjetivo, get describe un cambio de estado:

I can’t believe how long it takes you to get ready in a morning!

A few months later, Angela got pregnant, which changed everything.

Edward’s getting quite fat, isn’t he? He didn’t use to have that belly.

Y se utiliza a menudo para indicar la llegada a un lugar, lo cual implica, a su vez, un cambio de posición. En estos casos le sigue una adverbial:

OK, so, when you get to the junction, turn left, and then follow the road for about 500 metres.

She never manages to get to work on time, but she always leaves at 6 on the dot.

I don’t care how you get here, just get here before the film starts.

Once I got to university, I soon realized I wasn’t the smartest kid in the class anymore.

A veces no es el hablante el que provoca el cambio y a veces el hablante se quiere distanciar del hecho. Para expresar esta idea, similar a la voz pasiva, se utiliza «(get) + past participle»:

I don’t know how it got broken. I was really careful!

Sorry we’re late. I don’t know what happened, but somehow we got lost on the way here.

Se usa una construcción similar, «(get) + noun phrase + past participle», para hablar de cambios que son provocados. Por lo general, estos cambios son para mejorar o terminar algo:

It doesn’t look like the builders are going to get the kitchen finished this week.

Lucy gets her nails done at this new nail salon on Torrio Avenue.

La idea de ‘hacer que algo se mueva o funcione’ se expresa mediante la estructura «(get) + noun phrase + forma en -ing». Se puede prescindir del noun phrase si nos referimos a nosotros mismos:

I’ve been trying to get my new mobile phone working for about an hour, but I think there’s something wrong with it.

It’s late, Arnold. We should get going home, or we’ll be tired tomorrow.

«(Get) + infinitivo con to» describe un logro o el hecho de ‘conseguir hacer algo’:

Once you get to know her, she’s nice enough, I promise!

I was so lucky to get to see Bowie in his prime. You kids will never know how good he was live.

Will I ever get to meet your parents, Charles?

Se añade un noun phrase a esta estructura, «(get) + noun phrase + infinitivo con to», cuando se habla de conseguir que otras personas realicen determinadas actividades:

Gillian – did you get one of your parents to sign the form for the school trip?

Al’s been out in the garden all morning, trying to get the dog to stay, or sit, or fetch.

Las 500 dudas más frecuentes del inglés
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