“Get” on its own, with no prepositions

or adjectives, only means “receive,”

“achieve” or “obtain.”
e.g. The president gets a lot of letters
concerning his policies on the
environment.
e.g. Where can I get an English
newspaper.
e.g. I got an “A” in the exam!
Perhaps the most common use of “get” is with
adjectives and indicates a change in condition or
state. In this way “get” normally means “become.”
e.g. I drank three bottles of whiskey and got very
drunk.. (adjective “drunk”)
e.g. I’m going home to get a coat. I’m getting cold.
(adjective “cold”)

Match the “get” plus adjective compounds with their meanings.

1) get …… (become fatigued ) a) angry

2) get …… (to advance in years) b) hot

3) get …… (to become unwell medically) c) thirsty

4) get …… (become hostile and unhappy) d) worried

5) get ……. (become anxious) e) dirty

6) get …….(to meet) f) better

7) get …….(become unclean) g) ill/sick

8) get …….(improve in health or ability) h) old

9) get …… (increase in temperature) i) embarrassed

10) get …… (become timid and go red in the face) j) hungry

11) get …… (improve physical health and form) k) dangerous

12) get …… (start to be similar) l) tired

13) get …… ( become perilous) m) together

14) get …… (to need to eat) n) fit

15) get ……… (to need to drink) o) like

Can you think of 5 adjectives that could be added to this list to create more combinations?
Write them down underneath.

iSLCollective.com
To advance in years
Get old

To become fatigued
Get tired

to become unwell medically

Get ill/sick

To become hostile and unhappy

Get angry

To become anxious
Get worried

To meet
Get together

To become unclean
Get dirty

To improve in health or ability

Get better

To increase in temperature
Get hot

To become timid and go red in the face

Get embarrassed

To improve physical health and form

Get fit

To start to be similar
Get like

To become perilous
Get dangerous

To need to eat
Get hungry

To need to drink
Get thirsty

iSLCollective.com
 Get with Adjectives: Fill-in-the-gaps exercise
Fill in the gaps in the following sentences using the appropriate adjectives.

1. My aunt Lilly can’t come on holiday to Ibiza this year. She’s 84 now, and is getting
too __________ to be going to raves!

2. He keeps shouting at the TV when the football is on. He’s getting __________ his
father.

3. I really like the boy that sits next to me in class, but every time I try to speak to him I
get ____________________ and run screaming from the room.

4. I think we need to buy an air conditioner. It gets very _____________ here in the
summer.

5. After playing football I always get very ______________ and have to drink about a
litre of water.

6. It was five in the morning and their daughter still hadn’t returned from the disco.
They were starting to get very ____________________.

7. When I told my father that I had driven his car into the swimming pool after running
over his pet rabbit, he got very ______________ with me.

8. “Don’t play in the garden in your best shirt! You’ll get it ______________.”

9. “OK, Robin! The Joker’s last bomb has badly damaged this bridge and it’s very
unstable. We need to go! The bridge is getting too ______________ for us to stay!”

10. If I get really ___________________ I normally have a pizza. That’s why I’m so big.

11. The baby was crying because it was late and he was starting to get
_____________.

12. “Hi Jenny! I haven’t seen you for ages! We should get _____________ sometime
soon. I know a bar in the centre where many of our friends hang out. We could go
there.

13. The doctor told him to start to do more exercise to get ______________.

14. The doctor gave him some pills and he soon got _______________.

15. He didn’t sleep or eat for a couple of days and when he was caught in the rain he
soon got _______________ and had to go to the doctor.

iSLCollective.com