GET

Get is a verb we use frequently in English. It has three basic uses:

(1) get + an adjective become :

get angry

get wet

get fat

get ready

get dark

get hot

get married

get lost

get dressed / undressed

get + an adjective indicates a changing state while be+ an adjective indicates a state. Compare these two examples:

It gets dark at nine oclock. (2) get + a noun obtain , receiv e or buy:

It is dark at nine oclock.

get a surprise

get a shock

get a fright

get a letter / postcard

get a promotion

get some cereal

get a book

get some grocerie

(3) get to a place arriveat that place:

get to work

get to the airport

get home

Note we say get homeNOT get to home and get there and NOT get to there.

HAVE
We usually use have to talk about owning or possessing a particular thing: I have a big house. You have beautiful eyes. Wheres my pen? Jenny has it. We can also use havewith a variety of different noun combinations:

have a meal

have a drink

have a coffee / tea / beer /etc.

have breakfast

have lunch

have dinner

have something to eat (a sandwich / a cake / etc.)

have fun

have an accident

have a bath / a shower / a have a rest

have a party

GO
We usually use go to talk about moving to a place: go to work go to Spain go to bed We say go home and NOT go to home. He goes to Spain every year for her holidays We also use go with expressions that end in ing: go shopping go dancing go swimming James goes swimming every Wednesday. The following are some other useful expressions with go:

go for a walk / a meal / a drink/ etc.

go up

go down

go in

go out But go on foot = to walk

go away

go back

TAKE
We usually use take to talk about carrying something with us when we go to another place: We always take a bottle of wine when we go to Sandras house for dinner. We also use take to talk about the time we need to do something: It takes (person) + (quantity of time) to do something. It takes Sam twenty minutes to get home. We do NOT say: It costs Sam twenty minutes to get home.

Here are some more useful expressions with take: take someone to a place take the dog for a walk take a photo

take someone something

take an exam

take a course

COME ANDGO We use both come and go when we talk about movingfrom one placeto anothe r. Look at the pictures to see the difference in meaning:

Comehere! Go and get it! We use comewhen the movement is towa rds the speake r. Here are some more examples:

use go when the movement is awa y from the speake r.

Why dont you come to my house this evening? (the speaker invites someone to move to the place where he is.) Why dont we go to the cinema this evening? (the speaker invites someone to move to a different place.) Be careful that you do not make this mistake: Sally: Liam! Can you come here, please? Liam: Yes, Im coming . not Liam: Yes, I go. We can also use come and go with in, out, up, down , home , etc. Look at the pictures to see the difference between the uses of these come and go combinations: comein(to) / go in(to)

She told him to comeinto the dining room.

He is goinginto the building.

comeout (of) / go out (of)

He is comingout of the building. comeup / go up

She is goingout of the room.

They are comingup the stairs. comedown/ go down

They are goingup the stairs.

They are comingdownthe stairs. comehome/ go home

They are goingdownthe stairs.

What time does Frank come home ?

Home is here for the speaker / listener.

Karen is goinghomebecause she isnt feeling very well.

Home is not here for the speaker / listener.

Be careful that you do not make this mistake: Go to home. Go home . Come to home. Come home . comeback / go back

She is comingbackfrom her holiday in Italy. She is goingbackto the USA.

She is returning to the place where the speaker / listener is. She is returning to a place that is not where the speaker / listener is.

THING S WE SAY WITHCOME comeacross = find / meet I always comeacross a lot of interesting things when Im tidying my room. comefrom = be from Paco comesfrom Spain. comeand see = approach someone to have a look at something Comeand see what Jane is doing. comeround = visit someone What time do you want me to come for dinner? Why dont you comeround at eight. Comeon! = Hurry up! Comeon! Were late. BRINGAND TAKE We use both bring and take when we talk about carryingsomethingor leadingsomeonefrom one placeto another . Look at the pictures to see the difference in meaning: bring take

Thanks for bringingme a present. We use bring when the movementis from thereto here Take it to the kitch We use take when the movementis from here to there th there

Here are some more examples for you to have a look at: bring something back/ take something back

Bring me the ball back ! return something to the place where the speaker is

She is taking the book back to the library. return something to another place

bring something with you / take something with you

Bring a bottle of wine with you tonight.

Are you going out? Take an umbrella. Its raining.

bring someone something / take someone something

He always brings chocolates when he comes to Take the new Manager these reports. visit.

THING S WE SAY WITHBRING bring something up = mention bring forward = arrange for something to happen at an earlier date or time Can we bring forward the meeting? I have a business trip next week. Theres a problem with the Halston Report. Oh, yes? Why dont you bring it up at the next meeting?

MAKE ANDDO We use both make and do with nouns when we talk about performingan action . They are verbs that are very easy to confuse. Lets have a look at their uses: Make means to produce, build, create, fabricate or elaborate something. We use make with: foodanddrink

We make a cake / an omelette/dinne r / etc money

We make mone y. We make a fortune.

Make a profit. Make a loss. creativeactivities We make clothes .

We make a vase

Other useful expressions with make : makean appointment makea decisionmakean arrangement makean effort makea date makea promisemakea plan makean excusemakea reservation makea mistake makea journey makea list make a phonecall make friends make a speech makea messmakea photocopy make a noise make a face wear makeup Id like to makean appointmentto see Doctor Benton on Friday, please. The children are makinga terrible mess . She always makesa face when I ask her to tidy her room. Jenny always wears a lot of makeup. We can use do: as a gene ral verb. What are you doing? What do you do in your free time? as an auxiliary verb Where does Sally live? What do you do in your free time? when we talk about work

What do you do? Im a shop assistant Peter is doing a lot of overtimeat the moment.

We do a lot of businesswith Japanese corporations.

when we talk about householdtasks *

We do the housewo rk.

We do the cleaning .

We do the washing * Note, however, that we say: make the bed not

we do the ironing

do the bed

Be careful not to confuse do the washing(wash clothes ) and do the washingup (wash the dishes ). whenwe talk aboutcertainsporting activities We do exercise/ sport / yoga/ karate/ judo/ etc. when we talk about stud ying do some studying Jenny is doing somestudyingin the library. do your homework Philip is doing his homewo rk in his room. do a course Im doing a Spanish course at night school. do a subject (English, Maths, Chemistry, etc.) at school / university Helen does German at school.

do some research We have to do someresearchbefore we can start our new project. Be careful not to confuse do your homewo rk and do the housewo rk. Other useful expressions with do: do someonegood do your best do someoneharm do someonea favour

A quick shower doesyou good when you are tired. (It makes you feel better.) Rebecca always doesher best to make us feel at home. Could you do me a favour and lend me your car?

THING S WE SAY Here are our top twenty useful expressions with everyday verbs. 1. break a record : The athlete broke the worldrecord . He ran 100 metres faster than anyone else in the world can. 2. comefirst, second,third etc.: George was the winner of the race. He camefirst. do someonea favou r: I asked my brother to do me a favourand take me to the station. Get a moveon!: You are going to be late for your appointment. Get a moveon! (hurry up!)

3.

4.

5. get out of bedon the wrong side: Whats up with Jane this morning? She seems to be in a very bad mood. Did she get out of bed on the wrongside ? 6. get rid of (something): When James was 18 he decided to get rid of all his old toys. He gave them to the local hospital. (give away, throw away or sell) 7. get usedto (something): When you first go to a foreign country you have to get usedto different customs and traditions. (become accustomed to) Compare get usedto with be usedto: When she went to live in Italy, she couldnt get usedto kissing people every time she met them. (becom e accustomed to) Now she has lived in Italy for three years, she is usedto kissing people every time she meets them. (be accustomed to) 8. givemy regards to (someone): When you see Tom, please give himmy rega rds. (a set expression that means: say hello to Tom for me and give him my good wishes) 9. givesomeonea lift: Dont go to the airport on the bus . Ill give you a lift. (a set expression that means: take someone to a place in your car). 10. Go ahead : A: Do you mind if I use your phone? B: No, of course not. Go ahead . (another way of saying Help yourself; please do it) 11. havea go: I have never been water-skiing, so next time I go on holiday I am going to havea go. (try it) 12. I cant makeit: Im afraid I cant makeit to your party on Friday because Ill be in Lisbon on a business trip. (colloquial: I cant do something, go somewhere, etc.) 13. Lookon the bright side : Sales are really low this month, but we must lookon the bright side. Things will probably get better next month. (be optimistic) 14. make(good)progress : Diana has madegoodprogress with her work this year and we are very pleased with her.

15. makeup your mind: Come on! Which one do you want? Make up your mind . (an expression that means make a decision).

16. put two and two together :

No-one knew why Dave and Sue got divorced, but we put two and two togethe r and decided that they didnt love each other anymore. (come to an obvious conclusion)

17. put your foot down:

The teacher was tired of students who made too much noise. This morning he put his foot down and prohibited talking in class. (if you put your foot down, you are firm about your tolerance of something)

18. takea break:

Shall we takea break and have a cup of coffee?

19. takea short cut: We were late for the appointment so we tooka short cut through the narrow streets of the town and arrived on time. (take a shorter, alternative route to get somewhere instead of the normal route). 20. takeit in turns:
There was only one bike, so the four children had to takeit turnsto ride it. (an expression that means to do something alternately or in succession; not everyone at the same time).