Cambridge Grammar of English Hardback with cd-rom a comprehensive Guide

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539 Glossary for any unfamiliar terms

The passive | 799

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Functions of the get-passive

483

The get-passive is used in more informal contexts and is more common in spoken than in

written English. It is only used with dynamic verbs (verbs denoting actions or events rather

than states):

A headmaster 

got stabbed a few weeks ago. What is the world coming to?

(dynamic verb)

The standard unit of mass used by all scientists 

is kept at the International Bureau of

Weights and Measures at Sèvres, near Paris, France.

(non-dynamic verb: The standard unit of mass used by all scientists gets kept at the

International Bureau of Weights and Measures …)

The get-passive enables a clear distinction to be made between a dynamic event and a state

or situation:

The fence 

got damaged.

(dynamic event)

The fence

was damaged.

(not clear if it is a state or a dynamic event)

The get-passive places a little more emphasis on the grammatical subject or the entities

involved. For this reason it is often used to recount newsworthy events. The actions/events

most typically do not benefit the entity described and the form is often used when a

situation is judged to be problematic in some way:

[speaker who once worked for a tobacco company]

Well actually I 

got sacked because I was purposely trying to disrupt the business cos I

hate smoking so much.

A: My interview was supposed to be on the fifteenth and then it got moved to the

nineteenth. 

B: Oh no. 

A: And then guess what Martin. 

B: What? 

A: It got cancelled at five to eleven on the nineteenth. 

The get-passive is not used exclusively in negative or problematic contexts, and positive

newsworthy events are also (though less often) described using the get-passive:

Liam 

got promoted again. He’s now the sales and marketing director.

[tennis player talking]

I 

got picked for the county so I played county matches.

When a reflexive construction is used with the get-passive, it often indicates the

involvement or responsibility of the grammatical subject:

Somehow the key 

got itself jammed in the door.

(speaker ‘blames’ the key)

For all his power, you see, Dr Primo Nebiolo has never succeeded in 

getting himself

elected to the International Olympic Committee.

800 | The passive

Cambridge Grammar of English

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The get-passive is informal. In the following examples the get-passive sentences would be

more likely to be used in informal contexts. The be-passive equivalents sound more

detached and neutral:

He damaged the picture and 

got sued by the owners, who said that it had lessened its

value.

(He damaged the picture and was sued by the owners, who said that it had lessened its

value.)

That town 

got really badly hit by an earth tremor.

(That town was really badly hit by an earth tremor.)