Verbo “to get”

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Você sabe o que significa “I got nothing”?

Bem, depende do contexto, mas na maioria das vezes “I got nothing” significa “Não tenho nada a dizer.” Isto pode significar que você optou por não acrescentar nada a uma discussão, ou que não conseguiu pensar em mais nada a dizer.

“To get” pode ser utilizado em diversas estruturas e possui diferentes significados.

“TO GET” + objeto direto = obter, receber, comprar

  • I got my passport last week. (obter)
  • She got her driving license last week. (obter)
  • They got permission to live in Switzerland. (obter)
  • I got a letter from my friend in the US. (receber)
  • He gets $1,000 a year from his father. (receber)
  • She got a new coat from Dior in Paris. (comprar)
  • We got a new television for the living room. (comprar)

“TO GET” + expressão de lugar = alcançar, chegar em um lugar

  • How are you getting home tonight?
  • We got to London around 6 p.m.
  • What time will we get there?
  • When did you get back from New York?

“TO GET” + adjetivo = denota mudança de estado

  • I am getting old.
  • It’s getting colder.
  • The children are getting hungry.
  • I’m getting tired.
  • My mother’s getting old.
  • It gets dark very early in the winter.
  • Don’t touch the stove until is gets cool.

Outras expressões com “GET”

  • Do you get it significa “você entendeu?”
    Do you get what the teacher was explaining in class?
  • He’s getting dinner tonight significa que ele está preparando a refeição.
    You can relax. It’s my turn to get dinner tonight.
  • I’ll get the bill significa que eu pagarei a conta.
    Put your wallet away! I’ll get the bill.
  • That really gets me! significa que isso me irrita.
    It really gets me when my sister shows up late.
  • To get rid of something significa descartar algo.
    I’m going to get rid of all these old newspapers.

Abaixo um resumo:

arriveShe got to work an hour late.
receiveI got a book for my birthday.
earnI get $7 an hour.
bringCan you get that book for me?
understandDo you get the lesson?
affected by, or catchHe got a cold last week.
catch or takeI got the 4:55 train to New York.
communicate withI got him by phone.
have a strong effect onThat film really got me.
capture or seizeThe police got him at the station.

“HAVE GOT” = posse

Get também é usado para indicar posse no present perfect, indicando que alguém tem um objeto, um amigo ou parente, ou até mesmo uma situação.

  • I’ve got two children.
  • Sheila has got an appointment at three o’clock.
  • Have you got a TV in your kitchen?
  • I’ve got a cold.

Have got é usado tanto no inglês americano quanto no britânico, embora seja mais comum no inglês britânico. Lembre-se de que o past participle do get no inglês americano é gotten, mas, no inglês britânico, permanece got. Apesar dessa diferença, os americanos também usam have got apenas na indicacão de posse. Em outros casos, gotten é usado.

  • He’s got a beautiful smile.
  • They’ve got friends in Dallas.

Mas ainda veja este vídeo para complementar, e para mais exemplos:

Quiz: Do You Get It?

1. How many children have you got? “Have you got” can be replaced with…

  • do you have
  • are there
  • do you want

2. I think it’s time for us to get out of the food business. “Get out” means…

  • receive
  • leave
  • meet

3. I’m afraid I don’t get the problem at all. “I don’t get” means…

  • I don’t have
  • I don’t want
  • I don’t understand

4. My son got into Harvard last month. “Got into” means…

  • saw
  • was socially active at
  • was accepted to

5. Could you get the paper for me? “Get” means…

  • leave
  • exit
  • pick up

6. They have to get serious about their work. “Get serious” means they…

  • must work harder
  • must stop smiling at the office
  • must get to work early

“Clear skies”

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Absolutely “clear skies”!

Have you ever heard that? First of all, why do we use the plural “skies” if there is only one sky over all the earth?

So do we say sky or skies?

The use of the words sky and skies is completely dependent upon context.

sky

noun  /skaɪ/ [countable, uncountable](plural skies)

​The space above the earth that you can see when you look up, where clouds and the sun, moon and stars appear.

You usually say the sky. When sky is used with an adjective, use a… sky.

  • The sky suddenly went dark and it started to rain.

 in the sky 

  • What’s that in the sky?
  • The sun was shining brightly and there was not a single cloud in the sky.

across the sky 

  • White clouds moved fast across the sky.

 under a sky 

  • A crowd gathered in the square under an overcast sky.

meteors falling from the sky

the night sky

a cloudless sky

You can also use the plural form skies, especially when you are thinking about the great extent of the sky.

cloudless skies

Skies are also used when referring to the sky in a particular place when describing the weather or what the sky looks like in a place.

The plural is not mandatory in these cases, but it is generally viewed as the correct grammatical usage.

  • a land of blue skies and warm sunshine 
  • The skies are overcast, and it is chilly and damp.
  • Clear skies could well mean temperatures dropping tonight.
  • The forecast calls for clear skies with a chance of thunderstorms later on.

Skies has more of a poetic or literary meaning, which is used to express heavenly power as in reach for the skies.

People also tend to be poetic about the freedom that comes with an open sky or compare a happy day to having a cloudless sky.

Also, look at the following usage in an economic forecast context.

And just wrapping up this lesson, clear not clean skies, okay?

Clear skies mean clean and fresh, without clouds or mist.

  • a clear June morning
  • The skies were clear and blue.

My mind went blank

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English learners very often don’t remember the words they want to say. That’s when this phrase comes in handy:

my mind goes blank / is a blank

If your mind goes blank (also is a blank) , you suddenly cannot remember something: 

I tried to remember her name, but my mind went completely blank / was a complete blank.

For some reason, her mind went completely blank / was a blank.

I went blank and couldn’t think of a single example.

When she asked me his name, my mind went blank.

blank verb (FORGET)

To forget something that you know:

When he tried to remember the lyrics, he blanked.

I completely blanked on his name.

Now, if you have already learned well the phrase my mind goes blank, what about learning another one that will tell you what you have to do when your mind goes blank? Listen carefully and take notes.

https://dictionary.cambridge.org/pt/dicionario/ingles/go-blank

https://dictionary.cambridge.org/pt/dicionario/ingles/blank

https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/your-mind-is-a-blank-goes-blank

Cold weather

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Autumn mornings are often chilly. In chilly weather, you might want a light jacket, but you won’t need a heavy coat, or a scarf, or anything like that.

So chilly means that it’s a little cold. Not very cold, just a little cold.

But what if it’s very cold? You could say that it’s freezing.

Freezing means that it is very cold. Not just chilly, but very cold.

What’s the weather like? showed the more basic answers and vocabulary.

Weather expressions taught useful weather expressions, new words, phrases, and common patterns you can use to describe different kinds of weather.

But if you still didn’t find the exact words to describe the weather where you are, listen to the ones used in the following video, that you might need to describe those sunny days, stormy days, and all those in between, especially during cold weather such as:

  • damp that means that something is slightly wet;
  • overcast that means that the clouds are covering the sky and you cannot see the sun.

Take notes, look up the words you don’t know, and pay attention to pronunciation. It’s an old video, but it’s useful.

To or for?

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TO and FOR are prepositions that are often confused because they both have many different uses in English.

1. Let’s start with the basics…

If you are not sure about when to use TO or FOR, follow these two basic rules:

Rule 1: if there is a verb, use TO + infinitive

  • I came here to talk to you.
  • I study everyday to improve my English.

Rule 2: if there is a noun, use FOR

  • He came for the results.
  • I did this for the team.

That only gives us an idea of how to start, but there is much more.

I have researched and watched several videos to choose the least confusing approach. I think the following one is a smart approach. Ronnie puts it this way:

TO – TRANSFER / EXCHANGE

FOR – BENEFIT (GOOD)

“For you” or “To you”? People and pronouns

Should you say “I sent this letter to you” or “I sent this letter for you”? The answer is – both are possible, depending on what you mean. 

  • ‘I sent this letter to you’ means that, hopefully, you will receive my letter, because you are the recipient.
  • ‘I sent this letter for you’ means that I did you a favor and took the letter to the mailbox, but the recipient is a third person.

So remember these two rules:

If there is a transfer of something to someone → TO

  • Can you give this to her?
  • I wrote the letter to her. (I wrote the letter and she will receive it soon)

If the person will benefit from a service or a favor → FOR

  • This present is for him.
  • I wrote the letter for her. (She wasn’t able to write it and I did it for her as a favor)

Now we are going to work on another video. I would like you to start with the “5 levels” lesson below. The lesson has five parts. Each section will give you a challenge. Each section is designed to be more difficult than the previous ones.

If you find a section easy move on to the following one, but if you find it difficult, stop it and start working on the second video. Watch it carefully and take notes. Then read the rest of this lesson and then finish the “5 levels” lesson.

Read the full script, take notes and take the quiz on this lesson here.

So let’s look at some key points:

To Indicate the Destination

  • Our CEO is going to Rome tomorrow.
  • We’ll head to the headquarters in a second.
  • I am traveling to our branch in Bristol next month.

We use to when we indicate the destination, and usually there is movement involved. We often use verbs such as: go to, travel to, come to, head to, mail to, send to.

But there’s one common exception: you say go home, without to.

In the construction “from … to …”

  • It’s about 5km from my house to the university.
  • I work from 5 to 9.

To tell the time

In the USA, it is quite common to tell the time by saying the hour + the minutes.

Examples:

  • 5:30 – It’s five thirty.
  • 8:50 – It’s eight fifty.

However, especially in the UK, it is very common to express how many minutes there are left until you reach the next hour, once it is 30 minutes after o’clock.

Examples:

  • 5:40 – it’s twenty to six.
  • 8:50 – it’s ten to nine.

With the verb “to give”

We also use to with the verbs of giving, such as give, lend, pay, deliver. However, with these verbs, it’s common to use a structure without to. For example, with give, you can give someone something, or give something to someone. Both structures are possible, but the first is more common.

  • So, you can say: Give the bottle to me.
  • Or: Give me the bottle.

Both are possible, but the second is more common.

Giving a reason

Reason tells you why someone does something. Here, you can use to plus an infinitive or for plus a noun. Don’t use for plus an -ing verb.

Examples:

  • We need to go to the shop to buy some batteries.
  • We need to go to the shop for some batteries.

Again, you’re talking about why you’re going to the shop.

Function

Function tells you what something is used for, for example a tool. Here, you can use three structures: to plus infinitive verb, for plus -ing or for plus noun.

Examples:

  • She developed a tool to analyse data collected at different times and places.
  • She developed a tool for analysing data collected at different times and places.

Expressing the benefits of something

  • Getting this certificate will be good for your career.
  • Fruits and vegetables are good for your health.

Doing a favor

  • He picked up the mail for me.
  • I didn’t know how to write the letter and she did it for me.

Scheduling something for the future

  • I set up our interview for May 4.
  • I will schedule our next session for next Tuesday.