Your English: Phrasal verbs: get (1)

‘It’s a remote area and you really need a car to get about.’ To get about means to go or travel to different places. The phrasal verb get around can also be used with the same meaning. 

If people get above themselves, they start to think that they are better or more important than other people, as in ‘Don’t get above yourself just because you’ve come into a bit of money’. 

Get across is mainly used with the nouns message and meaning in the sense of making someone understand something, as in ‘He sometimes has trouble getting his meaning across in English’ or ‘We have to be clear about what message we are trying to get across to our customers’. 

If you get ahead, you are more successful or progress more quickly than other people, as in ‘You’ll never get ahead in this business unless you have a thick skin’. 

If people get along, they are friendly to each other and have good relations, as in ‘I’m in a fortunate position in that I get along really well with all of my colleagues’. 

Apart from the meaning mentioned above, get around (and get round) can also be used to mean to find a way of dealing with a problem or avoiding it, as in ‘There are various ways of getting (a)round the tax regulations’ or ‘The first problem we faced was how to get (a)round the language barrier’. If you get (a)round to doing something, you finally do it after intending to do it for some time, as in ‘When are you going to get (a)round to fixing that leaking tap?’