Grammar Girl

I came across a fantastic website the other day. Click here to go to it. The website has more than just good writing tips but it gives some great advice on other things as well. What I like most is the Grammar Girl portion. Every day there is a new tip regarding grammar and punctuation and language. It's designed to help any writer improve their skills.

I remember in my high school sophmore English class my teacher, Mr. Bowles, taught has several "dead" words. He called them "dead" words because he did not want to see them in our writing. One of the words I remember very well is the word "got." In fact it's the only word I remember being dead. I still remember burying the word in an official word funeral.

Today's lesson for Grammar Girl is all about the word "got" and should it really be used in English grammar? According to Grammar Girl it is okay to use this word if properly used. Here are some pointers from the website.

Again, this information is brought to you by Grammar Girl:

A reader named Sigrid felt that she should correct herself when she wrote, “Must get your book soon.” She writes, “I almost erased the word ‘get’ and replaced it with ‘purchase,’ but that sounded too formal; however, use of the word ‘get’ would make a great podcast. I’m often changing that word and substituting it for another, frequently some form of the verb ‘to be’ or ‘to have,’ in my clients’ manuscripts.” Sigrid is also wondering about how to use the verb “to get” in the past tense. Let’s get to the bottom of things.

When You Can Use “Get”
The quick answer to Sigrid’s question is that you don’t need to censor yourself when the word “get” crops up, and it’s probably best to stop correcting others unless they use a definitely illegal phrase (more on that later). “‘Get’ is good English” (1). It would be almost impossible to get through a day without saying “get.”

No style guide I checked bans the use of “get.” In fact, most authorities laud how useful the word is. The New Fowler's Modern English Usage provides a list of “natural uses in which it passes virtually unnoticed:

- get a job
- get my book for me
- get rich
- get one’s feet wet
- flattery will get you nowhere
- get going
- get the upper hand etc.” (2).

A search for “get” on Dictionary.com yields one group of meanings that is 63 items long (3). You can even use “get” instead of “be” in passive constructions if you want to put more emphasis on who did the action. The American Heritage Dictionary compares these two sentences: “The demonstrators were arrested” and “The demonstrators got arrested” (4). In the first sentence, using the verb “to be” implies that the police were the driving force behind the arrest. In the second sentence, using the verb “to get” places more emphasis on the demonstrators themselves.

Tenses of “Get”
Now let’s get to the question of tense. “Get” and “gets” are the present-tense forms of “to get,” as in “She gets mad at herself when she’s late.” The past tense is “got,” as in “She got mad.”
Now comes the tricky part: we have two choices when it comes to the past participle. A past participle is a word like “broken” in this sentence: “She has broken her wrist twice.” If you speak American English, you will use “gotten” as the past participle, as in “He has gotten the same gift three years in a row.” Users of British English, on the other hand, will say “got” (5): “He has got the same gift three years in a row.”

When You Might Choose Another Word Instead of “Get”
As we’ve already said, “get” is normal English, and there’s no need to substitute another word for it. However, if you’re writing a very formal paper, or know that someone in your audience will object to the word “get” for some reason, you can use more formal words such as “receive,” “purchase,” and “obtain.” It’s up to you to decide when to be formal. Sigrid decided correctly that it would sound overly stuffy to write this to a favorite author: “I must purchase your book.”

“Have Got”
Many listeners, including Sigrid, have been wondering if the phrase “have got” is acceptable English. Well, you have got to check out our previous episode on that topic. It’ll tell you that the answer is yes, you can use this expression, though it is considered informal.

Non-Standard Uses
Before we get going, you should get up to speed on which expressions are considered non-standard. Some colloquial or informal uses of “get” and “got” are controversial (6), and you wouldn’t want to write them unless you’re writing a character who speaks slang. For example, it would not be Standard English to say, “You got to try this” if you mean “You must try this” or “You have got to try this.” “You got to try this” would be acceptable only if you mean “You had the opportunity to try this.” Still, you will hear people use “got” in this manner.
Another common use of “got” that is not technically grammatically correct is the advertising slogan “Got milk?” Nevertheless, you’ll still hear takeoffs of this expression. At a recent dentist appointment, I saw a shirt that read “Got braces?”
Thus is the unholy power of advertising.

Summary
In this episode, we got friendly with the useful word “get.” You get to use it whenever you want, unless you must conform to formality.

References
1. Garner, B. Garner's Modern American Usage, 3rd Edition. New York: Oxford University Press, 2009, pp. 391-2.
2. Burchfield, R. W, ed. The New Fowler’s Modern English Usage. Third edition. New York: Oxford, 1996, pp. 329-30.
3. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/get. Accessed Jan 8, 2010.
4. American Heritage Guide to Contemporary Usage and Style. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2005, p. 206.
5. Garner, B. Garner's Modern American Usage, 3rd Edition. New York: Oxford University Press, 2009, pp. 391-2.
6. Burchfield, R. W, ed. The New Fowler’s Modern English Usage. Third edition. New York: Oxford, 1996, pp. 329-30.