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'Get' and 'become' |
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Olga
from Latvia asks: Margarete
Stepaneke from Austria asks: |
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Get, as we shall see, has many different meanings whereas become basically indicates development of some kind. Get is more informal and is frequently used in speech; become is more formal and is more often used in writing. Get/become + adjective When used with adjectives, get indicates growth or development and can therefore be used as the preferred alternative to become in an informal register. Compare the following sentences:
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Become + noun We cannot, however, use get with a noun, even though the meaning is 'grow' or 'develop into'. We have to use become in this sense:
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Get + noun/pronoun When we use get with a noun or a pronoun as a direct object, get usually means 'obtain', 'acquire', 'receive' or 'fetch'. Become is impossible here:
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Get and go to indicate movement Get indicates the end of a journey and can be used informally as an alternative to 'reach' or 'arrive at'. When we use go, we are talking about the 'complete journey', usually. Compare the following:
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Go, grow and turn to indicate a change of state Grow indicates a slow change and sounds literary. It can be replaced by 慴ecome?or 慻et? Turn indicates a faster change and can be replaced by 慻o?
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