1. The judge's decision has slowed our fight for justice. What has the judge's decision done to us?
2. Jim respects his uncle and wants to be like him. What does Jim do to his uncle?
3. Todd was really amazed at how good Erik's new book is. What did Erik's book do toTodd?
4. In Question 3, what would Todd call Erik's book?
5. You pushed the button on the remote, and now the TV is on. What did you do to the TV?
6. In Question 5, how would you describe the TV after I pushed the button on the remote?
7. The lights were on, but they're not on anymore. What must have been done to the lights?
8. In Question 7, how would you describe the lights now?
9. The bar owner will be ordered to close his bar permanently. What will be done to the bar?
10. Charles thinks people from that part of town are low-class. What does Charles do to people from that part of town?
11. Joe would have been ordered to leave his house if he hadn't paid his late mortgage payments. What would have happened to Joe if he hadn't paid his late mortgage payments?
EXERCISE 48d, Review — Complete the sentences with these nouns from previous sections. To check their meanings, review the section number given after each one.
| carryout, 28 | lockout, 29 | turnoff,45 | turnover, 45 |
| cutback, 47 | make-up, 23 | turn-on, 45 | rip-off, 44 |
| falling-out, 32 | pullout,47 | turnout, 45 | runaround.40 |
1. Heather kind of liked Ann's brother until she saw him smoking. To her that's a big ________.
2. The Senate voted against a ___________ in spending for AIDS research.
3. Lydia doesn't want anyone to take pictures of her without her ___________ on.
4. Bill thinks that Nicole's short skirt is a ___________.
5. The soldiers were ordered to prepare for a ___________.
6. I hate cooking, so we eat ___________ food almost every night.
7. I've gone to every office in City Hall about my problem, but no will help me. They just give me the ___________.
8. The company's high ___________ rate is one reason why it lost money last year.
9. Can you believe the frames for these glasses cost $300? What a ___________.
10. One thief broke into the store while the other stayed outside as a ___________.
11. The ________ for the parade would have been a lot bigger if it hadn't been raining,
12. George had a ___________ with his brother and hasn't spoken with him for fifteen years.
EXERCISE 48e, Review — Complete the sentences with these phrasal verbs from previous sections. Be sure the phrasal verbs are in the correct tense. To check their meanings, review the section number given after each one.
| blow out, 43 | con into, 46 | pull out, 47 | talkinto,46 |
| brush up, 47 | con out of, 46 | put in l into, 47 | talk out of, 46 |
| bump into, 46 | move in l into, 47 | stick out, 32 | turn over, 45 |
| carry away, 44 | move out, 47 | stress out, 44 | turn up, 45 |
1. Your work isn't very good. You ought to ________ more effort ________ it.
2. I was so mad at my boss that I almost quit my job. Fortunately, my wife ________ me ________ ________it.
3. Did you see Mike's house? He said he was going to put a few Christmas tree lights on the roof, but there must be 5,000. I guess he got ________ ________.
4. Don't let that crooked contractor ________ you ________ ________ any money for unnecessary home repairs.
5. France was a member of NATO until it ________ ________ in 1966.
6. Don't quit now, we're almost finished. You've just got to ________ it ________ for a little while longer.
7. What a surprise! I ________ ________ Bob at the train station yesterday. I hadn't seen him in years.
8. The police acted on a tip that the suspect would be at the bus station on Saturday morning, but he didn't ________ ________.
9. If you're not careful that crook will ________ you ________ selling him your land for a lot less than it's worth.
10. Mike used to speak Arabic pretty well, but he ought to ________________ before he goes to Egypt.
11. How could I have been ________ ________ doing something stupid?
12. The apartment has been cleaned and painted. You can ________ right ________ any time you want.
13. ________ it ________. I want to see what's on the other side.
14. Living with Sam is driving me crazy — I have to ________ ________.
15. After you make a wish you can ________ ________ the candles.
16. Living in a house with seven dogs is really ________ my cat ________.
49. FOCUS ON: combinations of get, right, back, and to
The focus of this section is an expanded definition of the two-word phrasal verb get to and the three-word phrasal verb get back to. The purpose is to try to make some sense out of a seemingly limitless number of idiomatic combinations of get, to, and various particles and adverbs, in particular right and back, and to demonstrate that many phrasal verbs comprised of get and a particle are actually variations of get to that can be modified with right and l or back.
Remember that back is sometimes part of a phrasal verb and sometimes an adverb used to modify a phrasal verb (review Section 26), although we will see that there is often no difference in meaning between the phrasal verb get back (to), discussed in Section 42, and the phrasal verb get to modified by back(get back to).
The numbers in the chart correspond with the meanings in the definitions.
Get to
1. Although the phrasal verb get to is defined here as meaning arrive, it can be understood as the basis for some of the phrasal verbs that were discussed in Section 42:
Bill got to Peoria. (Bill arrived in Peoria.)
Bill got back to Peoria. (Bill returned to Peoria.)
Bill got up to Peoria. (Bill arrived in Peoria from the south.)
Bill got down to Peoria. (Bill arrived in Peoria from the north.)
Bill got over to Peoria. (Bill arrived in Peoria from the east or west.)
Bill got out to Peoria. (Bill arrived in Peoria from the east or from a larger city.)
We see that get back (to), get up (to), get down (to), get over (to), and get out (to)
are variationsof get to but with additional information. These verbs
can be modified with right, meaning immediately, quickly, or directly (see Section 10):
Bill got right back to Peoria. (Bill returned to Peoria quickly.)
Get to work has two meanings, similar but not the same. Get to work can refer to an arrival at a place where someone works:
Ann got to work. (Ann arrived at the place where she works.)
But get to work (see meaning 3) can also mean start working, without any reference to a change of location:
Joe got to work. (Joe started working.)
Joe got back to work. (Joe started working again.)
Joe got right to work. (Joe started working immediately.)
Joe got right back to work. (Joe started working again immediately.)
The difference in these two meanings is illustrated by the following sentence:
l got to work at 9:00, but I didn't get to work until 10:00, which can paraphrased as I arrived at my office at 9:00, but I didn't start working until 10:00.
2. Although the phrasal verb get to is defined here as meaning reach a certain level, number, or amount, it can be understood as the basis for some of the phrasal verbs discussed in Section 42:
Jane got to 120 pounds.
Jane got back to 120 pounds. (Jane weighs 120 pounds again.)
Jane got up to 120 pounds. (Jane used to weigh less that 120 pounds.)
Jane got down to 120 pounds. Jane used to weigh more that 120 pounds.)
We see that get back (to), get up (to), and get down (to) are variations of get to but with additional information.
Get up (to) and get down (to) can be modified by back:
Jane got back up to 120 pounds. (Jane used to weigh 120 pounds, lost weight, and then gained it back.)
Jane got back down to 120 pounds. (Jane used to weigh 120 pounds, gained weight, and then lost it.)
3. If you start to do something, you get to it:
l ' ll try to get to my homework after dinner.
If you start to do something, stop doing it, and then later start to do it again, you get back to it:
l ' ll try to get back to my homework after dinner.
If you start to do something, stop doing it, and then later quickly start to do it again, you get right back to it:
l ' ll try to get right back to my homework after dinner.
Remember that when both right and back are used, right always comes first:
I'll try to get back right to my homework after dinner.
