The Phrasal Verb 'Get Across' Explained
- May 22
- 6 min read
An explanation of the different meanings of the English phrasal verb 'get across' from a native speaker, with lots of examples in context
Hello and welcome to my website for English learners all about phrasal verbs where I explain their different meanings to help you understand, learn and use them like a native.
This post is all about the English phrasal verb 'get across', which is a common phrasal verb that can be used to talk about crossing something physically or communicating ideas and information successfully. Unlike many phrasal verb posts with the verb 'to get', this one is relatively short as 'get across' only has two meanings! In this post, I will explain both of these meanings for you and give you example sentences for each one so that you know how and when to use them. So, let's make a start and learn what the phrasal verb 'get across' is all about....
QUICK ANSWER: What does the phrasal verb 'get across' mean?The phrasal verb 'get across' has two main meanings in English:
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THE BASICS
GET ACROSS: KEY INFORMATION
Usage | Common |
Number of meanings | 2 |
Past tense forms | Got across / Got across - gotten across |
Separable? | Yes |
As per usual, let's start the post by taking a look at the words that form our phrasal verb of choice, which in this case are the verb 'to get' and the prepositional particle 'across'.
Get - The verb 'to get' needs no introduction from me as it is extremely common in English. It can be quite a tricky verb for learners as it has a huge number of meanings and applications in English. In fact, I'm sure you could dedicate an entire blog to its different meanings but let's just concentrate on phrasal verbs for now! Some of the main meanings of 'to get' include 'to receive', 'to understand' and 'to fetch' but the meaning that is most relevant for this phrasal verb is 'to reach or arrive somewhere'.
It is important to note that 'to get' is an irregular verb with two accepted past participles; 'got' is used more in British English and 'gotten' is preferred in American English. |
I got a letter in the post today.
I don't get this grammar point; could you explain it for me?
My Dad has gone to get some bread from the shop.
What time did you get home last night?
Across - The prepositional particle 'across' is not one that is seen in many phrasal verbs. On its own it is used to talk about moving from one side of something to the other (an idea that we will revisit shortly) or to talk about the other side of something. This meaning is also transferred to phrasal verbs and in addition to this, 'across' can add the ideas of discovery (come across), communication (put across) and distribution (spread across).
So, now that we have looked at the basics, let's move on to the meanings of the phrasal verb 'get across'....
MEANING 1: To move from one side to the other
CEFR Language Level | A2 - Elementary |
Usage | Common |
Where is it used? | Everywhere |
Potential synonyms | To go across, to cross, to traverse |
Separable? | No |
The first of our two meanings of the phrasal verb 'get across' is the literal meaning that we get when we combine the two words 'get' and 'across', which is 'to move from one side of something to the other'.
Nouns commonly used with this application....
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At first glance, this meaning is probably quite obvious to you and should not need much explanation, however there is an element of nuance that is involved with this first meaning of 'get across' that you should be aware of.
As I stated, we use this literal application to talk about being situated on one side of something e.g. a river or road, and moving across so that we are on the other side of it. In addition to 'get across', there are several other verbs that we can use to describe this same action in English, with 'go across' being the most obvious and common one. You should note here however that 'get across' and 'go across' are not always used interchangeably and this is the nuance that you should know....
We use 'go across' to talk about a simple movement across something where there are no difficulties or obstacles e.g. the car is going across the bridge. On the other hand, we use 'get across' in situations where we are not able to cross something or if there are obstacles or difficulties in doing so. Consequently, this application can often be found in negative statements and questions.
Example sentences of 'get across'....
We managed to get across the river before it started to rain.
It took the turtles hours to get across the busy highway safely.
The children tried to get across the narrow bridge one by one.
Jonathan swam hard to get across to the other side of the lake.
We couldn’t get across the river because the current was too strong.
Martin couldn’t get across to the island without a boat.
Getting across the city during rush hour can take a long time!
Were you able to get across the road safely?
How did she get across the bridge in that weather?
So, to summarise, if you want to talk about crossing something in a normal way, use 'go across' and if you want to say that there difficulties and doubts about the crossing or if you weren't able to cross something, 'get across' is better 😀
MEANING 2: To communicate information or ideas successfully
CEFR Language Level | B2 - Upper intermediate |
Usage | Medium |
Where is it used? | Everywhere |
Potential synonyms | To communicate, to put across |
Separable? | Yes |
Now we come to the second meaning of 'get across', which is the true phrasal verb application and means 'to communicate information successfully'.
Nouns commonly used with this application....
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Isn't it really annoying when you try to explain something to somebody and they just do not understand what you are trying to tell them. In these frustrating situations, it is very common to use this application as you can say that you are unable to 'get the information across'.
To clarify this, if you get information across to someone, you succeed in making them understand it. This is not just used in an educational or learning sense but also when you want to make another person understand an important practical piece of information or how you feel about something.
Two nouns that are commonly used in collocation with this application of 'get across' are 'message' and 'point'. We use both of these to talk about conveying a key piece of information to someone or to people in general.
IS GET ACROSS A SEPARABLE VERB?
On a grammatical note, this meaning of the phrasal verb get across' is separable and I would say is used more commonly in a separable way in everyday language.
Example sentences of 'get across'....
The politician explained the idea well and really got it across to the audience.
The teacher used simple examples to get the concept across.
Ben struggled at first, but he eventually got his point across.
The campaign video got the message across effectively.
It’s hard to get your feelings across in a short email.
Dean couldn’t get his idea across clearly during the meeting.
The instructions didn’t really get across to the students what they needed to do.
Becky tried to explain, but she didn’t get her point across.
The advert failed to get the message across.
Do you think the speaker got the main point across?
So, now that you have read that, did I get the message across well about the phrasal verb 'get across'?
We have now reached the end of this post and I hope that you have found it useful and that it has helped you to understand how to use the phrasal verb 'get across' more confidently and naturally.
Please feel free to leave any comments, feedback or your own sentences using 'get across' in the section below. Also, if you found the post useful, please like and share it on social media.
You can also check out my new downloadable PDF "40 B2-Level Phrasal Verbs That Native Speakers Use Daily", which looks at 40 common phrasal verbs that are in use in daily English speech with examples, common mistakes and exercises. You can find it here.
See you next time! James 😊
THE END
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