The busiest verb and its two-part combinations
get up - get over - get by
How to use this sheet
The verb in these combinations means almost nothing by itself - the small word after it carries the meaning, and every combination must be learned as a separate vocabulary item. Most of the combinations in this table refuse to be split: the object comes after the whole unit, never inside it. Only row 9 allows the object in the middle - and with a pronoun it must go there.
| Phrasal verb | Meaning | Separable? | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| get up | leave your bed in the morning | no object | I get up at six on weekdays. |
| get on with | have a good relationship with someone | not separable | She gets on well with her in-laws. |
| get over | recover from an illness, a shock, or a disappointment | not separable | It took him months to get over the breakup. |
| get by | manage to live with limited money or resources | no object | They get by on one salary. |
| get away with | do something wrong without being punished | not separable | He cheated and got away with it. |
| get around to | finally do something you kept postponing | not separable | I never got around to reading it. |
| get back to | contact someone again with an answer | not separable | I'll get back to you by Friday. |
| get through | finish or survive something difficult | not separable | We got through the busiest week of the year. |
| get across | communicate an idea successfully | separable | She got her point across in two minutes. |
| get out of | avoid a duty you agreed to | not separable | He tried to get out of the meeting. |
In use
I'll get back to you as soon as I hear anything. She never really got over losing that job. How do you get by without a car out here?
Watch out
She got the flu over in a few days.
Do not assume these combinations behave like the two-part verbs you can split: apart from row 9, the object always follows the complete combination, even when it is a pronoun. And when another verb comes after the combinations in rows 5, 6 and 10, it takes the -ing form - the final small word there is a true preposition, so the to-form is impossible after it.