Now it's interesting that we use get as a verb of motion. Often, when it's difficult to actually move. Have you noticed that we say,

Would you like to get into my car.

Now, you go into your house, you open the door and you walk in. You don't usually get into your house, but you get into a car. Why? Because you have to bend down usually to get in. So you get into a car. Perhaps you're up a ladder, you know, a ladder, which takes you upwards. If you're painting a wall, for example. And you don't like heights. So you find it difficult to get down the ladder. To get down. It means just to step down, to walk down the ladder.

Now, we might say, to get into a house, especially if there's some difficulty. For a burglar, for example, somebody who breaks a window and gets into your house that way. So last year, a burglar got into my house, he broke the window and opened it from the inside and got in and stole a television. So there, it's difficult because he has to break the window. So there we do say to get into the house.

I can't get in. The door's locked.

The old lady can't get across the road, there's too much traffic.

The cat's climbed up the tree, and now it can't get down.

Nobody can get to their homes because of the floods.

We've put the biscuit tin on the top shelf so that little Jonny can't get at/to it. (reach)

https://www.practisingenglish.com/podcast-226.htm

At https://www.practisingenglish.com/ I offer learners of intermediate-level English, grammar help and exercises and other English learning pages.

https://www.practisingenglish.com/english-grammar/

 

My latest novel for learners of B2 English is called The Tudor Conspiracy. You can see it on Amazon here: https://amzn.to/33Axu2N

 

Be back soon with another podcast!

Mike Bilbrough (Secondary school English teacher and Doctor in English philology)

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At https://www.practisingenglish.com/ I offer learners of intermediate-level English, free grammar help and exercises and other English learning pages.
https://www.practisingenglish.com/

Be back soon with another podcast!
Mike Bilbrough (Secondary school English teacher and Doctor in English philology)