Your English: Phrasal verbs: get (6)

As is the case with many of the phrasal verbs based on get, the verb get through has several meanings. It can be used to mean to manage to deal with a difficult situation or stay alive until it is over, as in ‘The refugees will need help to get through the winter’. 

It can also mean to finish dealing with something, as in ‘There was a lot to get through in the meeting’, or to pass a test or a stage of something, as in ‘How on earth did he ever get through his driving test?’ 

If you get through to someone, you manage to reach them by phone, as in ‘I finally got through to Davis on his mobile’, or you finally succeed in making someone understand what you are trying to say, as in ‘I’m just not getting through to you, am I?’ 

If something gets to you, it annoys you or upsets you, although you try not to let it happen, as in ‘After a while all his teasing started to get to me’. 

Apart from meaning to get out of bed or to get someone out of bed, get up can also be used to mean to organize something by asking different people to take part in it or support it, as in ‘Local people got up a petition against the construction of the new road’ or ‘I’ll do my best to get up a team for the match next Saturday’. 

If the wind gets up, it starts blowing strongly, as in ‘We need to keep an eye on the weather as the wind is starting to get up’.