An explanation of the different meanings of the English phrasal verb 'Get Back', with examples and exercises.
Hello and welcome to my website all about English phrasal verbs. Each week, I take a different phrasal verb and look at how it is used by native speakers, with a focus on the different meanings that it has and the expressions and idioms that it is used in.
The phrasal verb 'get back' is a commonplace phrasal verb in English, with several meanings, which we will cover in this post. You may also be familiar with it as it is the title of a hit song by the ultimate British music band, The Beatles. Read on to find out more about this useful phrasal verb and all the ways that you can use it effectively to communicate in English. So, without any further ado, let's make a start...
GET BACK: KEY INFORMATION
​Usage | Common |
Number of meanings | 6 |
​Separable | Sometimes |
Past tense forms | Got / gotten back - Got / gotten back |
For more explanation of the terms in the table above, click here.
THE BASICS
As is customary, let's start by taking a look at the component words that make up our phrasal verb of choice, as these often give valuable clues to their meanings.
Firstly, we have the verb 'to get', which as I have stated before is perhaps the most beloved of verbs by English speakers because it can be used in so many ways (however, this also makes it a nightmare for English learners!). To make it simpler for the purposes of this post, the meaning of 'to get' that is relevant for the phrasal verb 'get back' is the meaning 'to arrive'.
The preposition 'back' is a frequently used word in English, although it is perhaps not one of the most common prepositions used in phrasal verb constructions. Luckily, 'back' has relatively few meanings compared with most other prepositions and the general idea of it is 'to return'.
So, now we have covered the basics, let's move on to the meanings of 'get back'....
MEANING 1: To return to a place
CEFR Language Level | A2 - Elementary |
​Usage | Common |
British or American? | Both |
Potential synonyms | To return, to get in, to get home |
The first three meanings of 'get back' that we will look at are all about 'returning' in some way and this first meaning is 'to return to a place', after having been somewhere else.
This meaning is taken directly from the meaning of 'to get' as in 'to arrive', in combination with the idea of 'returning' that we get from the preposition 'back'.
One of the most common ways that this is used is to describe when we return home. This could be after a quick trip to the shop, a day at work or a two-week holiday. The general idea is that we use 'get back' to describe the moment that we arrive at home.
Aside from home, we can use 'get back' to talk about the moment that we return to a place after leaving it for a period of time. Due to the nature of this, we tend to use it mainly for places in which we habitually spend a lot of time e.g. work, however we can use it for a starting point for a small journey or trip of some kind too.
On a grammatical level, this form of 'get back' is not separable and does not take a direct object. The extra preposition 'to' is required to specify the place that you are returning to, except for with the noun 'home' as we do not use 'to' with this noun.
Examples of usage....
I went to the Ed Sheeran concert last night and I didn't get back until 2am. I am so tired!
Our flight home later has been delayed so we won't get back to the UK now until midday.
The first team to get back to the starting point will win the orienteering competition.
John's doctor's appointment was only supposed to be 10 minutes but he was gone for more than an hour and didn't get back to work until 4pm.
EXTRA INFORMATION TO SOUND LIKE A NATIVE SPEAKER
If we want a person to return from somewhere, it is very normal in everyday English to use 'get back here!' as an imperative to demand that they come back from where they are. This could be when the person is physically and geographically in a different place, however it is often heard by parents with young children and dog owners who shout 'get back here!' to their children or dogs who have run away from them but are still visible or in hearing distance.
MEANING 2: To return to a previous state
CEFR Language Level | B2 - Upper intermediate |
Usage | Medium |
British or American? | Both |
Potential synonyms | To return, to go back |
For this second meaning of 'get back', we are staying with the general theme of 'returning' but rather than returning to a physical place, we are instead talking about returning to a previous state of being or existence.
I would definitely say that the most frequent usage of this application of 'get back' is to talk about the general situation in our daily lives. When things in our lives change and we no longer have the normality that we previously did, we can say that we want things 'to get back to normal'. Or, when normality resumes, we can instead say 'things have got back to normal'. A prime example of when this usage of 'get back' was said all the time was during the Covid-19 pandemic and thankfully things have got back to normal now 😀
In addition to 'get back to normal', some other similar expressions that you may hear are 'get back to how things were' and 'get back to before'.
Furthermore, we don't just use 'get back' in this way to talk about a return to normality; we can use it to talk about a return to previous conditions and previous levels e.g. in the economic or scientific fields.
Examples of usage....
I really hate the end of year holidays! I can't wait for things to get back to normal after the new year.
It took a while but family life has finally got back to how it was before.
Scientists think that it may take many years for carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere to get back to pre-industrial levels.
MEANING 3: To return to a subject
CEFR Language Level | B2 - Upper intermediate |
Usage | Medium |
British or American | Both |
Potential synonyms | To return |
The third meaning of 'get back' is another variation on the theme of 'returning' and this time means 'to return to a subject or topic'.
This is often used during a conversation or discussion when the subject of the conversation goes off topic, or in other words moves away from the original subject. Somebody usually then says that we need 'to get back to the subject or matter' that was originally meant to be discussed.
Examples of usage....
Guys, can we please get back to the subject in question. I have another meeting shortly.
I had a lovely chat with the careers advisor about my future career plans, although at one point we did go off topic and started talking about food but we soon got back to the topic.
MEANING 4: To have something again
CEFR Language Level | B2 - Upper intermediate |
Usage | Common |
British or American? | Both |
Potential synonyms | To retrieve, to return, to have back |
The fourth meaning of 'get back' is 'to have something again', meaning that you are in possession of something again after a period of not being in possession of it.
Again, this usage of 'get back' carries the same central idea of 'returning' as the idea here is that something is returned to you, so that you have it once again.
Usually, this application is used for physical items such as a car or a book, but it can also be used for anything that we possess and that is ours, whether that be a skill that we lost and gained again, a relative who was away for some time and returned or a feeling such as confidence, that we temporarily lost and regained.
Unlike the first three meanings in the post, this usage of 'get back' does take a direct object and is separable. Although, it is possible to place the direct object after 'get back', I would recommend putting it between 'get' and 'back' as it sounds much more natural.
Examples of usage....
My car has been at the garage all day and I am waiting for them to call me to let me know when I can get it back.
John's luggage got left in the airport when we was coming home from his holiday and it took almost one week for him to get it back.
I need to get my cellphone back from my friend who borrowed it an hour ago!
My disease is finally cured and I am grateful to have got my health back!
MEANING 5: To take revenge on someone
CEFR Language Level | B2 - Upper intermediate |
Usage | Common |
British or American | Both |
Potential synonyms | To avenge, to exact revenge on |
Meaning number five of 'get back' is to take revenge on someone or to do something harmful to them because they have wronged you in some way. In other words, if you 'get someone back' for something, you are trying to hurt them in such a way that is equal to (or perhaps worse than) how they hurt you.
This usage of 'get back' is different from the previous ones that we have looked at in this post so far because the idea of 'returning' is not the central idea. The main idea of this usage of 'get back' is rather linked to a different, informal meaning of the verb 'to get', which is to catch someone and punish or hurt them in some way. This is a meaning of 'to get' that people often use in a playful way e.g. when playing with and chasing children, however it can be very serious and threatening in tone when used among adults.
Grammatically, this usage of 'get back' takes a direct object, which always goes between 'get' and 'back'.
There is also a second variation of this usage of 'get back' that you should know, which is 'to get back at someone'. This carries the same meaning as the first variation, however often with this one we need to specify why we want to take revenge and for this the additional preposition 'for' is required.
For British English enthusiasts, we also have the variant 'to get your own back on someone', which again means the same thing ands is in common usage.
Examples of usage....
Oh I am going to get you back for this!
I played a practical joke on my best friend and embarrassed him in front of all our other friends and he has been trying to get me back for it ever since.
In an attempt to get back at his neighbour for playing loud music all night, John started doing some loud drilling work early the next work.
MEANING 6 : To respond to someone with information
CEFR Language Level | B2 - Upper intermediate |
Usage | Common |
British or American | Both |
Potential synonyms | To come back, to respond, to let someone know |
The sixth and final meaning of 'get back' is 'to respond to someone with information or an answer to a question'.
This is a commonly used application of this phrasal verb, especially in business English. With this meaning, we are back to the idea of 'returning' again, as the idea here is that when someone asks you for information that you do not have, you need to go away and return once you have the information in question. Alternatively, this could be used if you have not decided something and you need some more time to make your decision.
For this usage, the construction is 'to get back to someone' and we therefore require the extra prepositional particle 'to'.
Examples of usage....
The representative at the water company is going to get back to me with an explanation of why my water bill is so high.
I'm not about that to be honest. Can I go away and check with our accounts team and get back to you?
They finally got back to me to let me know that they couldn't attend the wedding.
BONUS
You may remember earlier in the post, I mentioned about using 'get back here' as an imperative to request that someone returns to where you are. There is another way that 'get back' is used as an imperative and that is simply 'get back!', which is normally used a demand to people to move backwards or away from something that is potentially dangerous or hazardous. As a consequence, this is likely to be said by people in the emergency services such as police officers and firefighters.
EXERCISE Re-write the following sentences using 'to get back'....
What time did Roger arrive home from the airport last night?
I don't ever want things to return to normal again.
We need to return to the main subject of the discussion.
John leant his Dad some money and he wants to know when he will be repaid.
Lisa threatened Helen and promised to take revenge for what Helen did.
I am not sure what the answer is. Can I find out and let you know?
The answers will be available on next week's post.
EXERCISE ANSWERS FROM 'BLOW UP' (other variations may be possible)
My cigarette was left in direct sunlight and has just BLOWN UP.
There are 100 balloons that need BLOWING UP before the party tonight.
John suddenly BLEW UP at Roger.
I can't read this text very well, is there any way that you can BLOW it UP?
Yesterday morning the weather was calm but then in the afternoon a storm BLEW UP.
The media have BLOWN this STORY up.
Before I finish the post, for anyone is interested, here is a link to the track 'Get Back' by The Beatles...can you tell which meaning of 'get back' they are using in the song?
That is the end of today's post. Thank you so much for taking the time to read it and I sincerely hope that it has helped you a little bit further on your English learning journey.
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