I’m not sure about you, but I have memories of being told in primary school that the word ‘get’ was borderline verboten. It’s possible my teachers were stricter than most, but more likely, times have simply changed in the grammar world. Given my primary school days are more than four decades in the past I should not be surprised. Nonetheless, in doing research for this article, I was indeed surprised to see the legitimacy the word ‘get’ is afforded as a highly used, irregular English verb.

Though I likely avoided use of the word ‘get’ in my hunt for scratch ’n’ sniff stickers while at school, I absolutely know I use, even overuse, this verb in my everyday life.

I was first alerted to this through learning French. Since French does not have a verb that directly translates as ‘to get’, once I moved beyond the basics, I was often pulled up short by this missing verb.

Just in case you’re not convinced of its ubiquitousness in English, here are a few examples off the top of my head:

1. To get a drink
2. To get an email
3. To get a new car
4. To get angry
5. To get married
6. To get drunk
7. To get some results
8. To get a cold
9. To get your car cleaned
10. To get your hair cut

In fact, given the multitude of ways we use ‘to get’ in English, this article could run to a smallish book, so, how do we get around this word in the most commonly cases?

The easiest, and probably most ‘correct’ way, is to try to think of an appropriate synonym.

to get a drink = to fetch a drink
to get an email = to receive an email
to get a new car = to buy a new car

So try instead:

Je cherche une boisson (I’m looking for a drink)
J’ai reçu un email (I received an email)
Je vais acheter une nouvelle voiture (I’m going to buy a new car)

What happens, though, when we use ‘get’ to mean ‘to become’ in English, which we do a lot, as in examples #4, #5 and #6 above? This is a little trickier. In my experience, French usually has a dedicated verb for these instances and often it’s a reflexive one.

to get angry = se fâcher
to get married = se marier
to get drunk = se saouler

These verbs are a little tricker to conjugate, granted, but if you practise them enough, they’ll eventually come more naturally to you.

Je me suis fâché(e) (I got angry)
Je me marie ! (I’m getting married!)
Je me suis saoulé(e) (I got drunk).

In some cases, the verb ‘avoir’ will give you a less formal-sounding, but still correct, option. Take these two sentences as examples.

to get some results
to get a cold

Instead of opting for ‘j’ai obtenu des résultats’, you could use ‘j’ai eu des résultats’ instead (literally ‘I had some results’).

Rather than going for the more formal ‘J’ai attrapé un rhume’, ‘j’ai eu un rhume’ works just as well and may even sound more natural to native speakers. Either are fine, though, so the choice is yours.

Those of you who have done advanced courses at Lingua Franca will have certainly encountered le causatif (the causative construction). I didn’t realise the usefulness of this turn of phrase when I first learned it, but having now taught it for several years and listened to a lot of French via the news, podcasts, series and movies I have come to understand its value.

Without realising it, we use it a lot in English as well. Think of the difference in these two sentences:

I clean the house
I have the house cleaned

I know which one I’d rather and this has motivated me to look into this construction more carefully. We use the causative when we’re not performing an action ourselves but having someone else doing it for us. It’s a personal goal of mine to trade active sentences for causative ones for all the menial tasks I don’t want to do.

Sometimes it’s less about la paresse*, it’s just common sense. For example:

I cut my hair
I have my hair cut

So try these:

Je fais nettoyer la maison (I get the house cleaned)
Je fais couper mes cheveux (I get my hair cut)

I predict that the more you think about the use of the verb ‘get’ in English, the more you risk a sense of overwhelm as you realise how heavily we rely on this three-lettered workhorse. Please don’t succumb. The first step is to simply take notice of the ‘get’ phrases including you reach for most often when trying to speak French. Note them down, and see if they fit into one of the four categories above. They most likely will. If they don’t and you really, really want to use one in particular, challenge yourself to dip into a good dictionary to see if you can find the translation and start testing it out for yourself. Bon courage* !

*Good luck!

How to Learn French - Gotcha!