Skip to main content

get

/ɡɛt/verb, noun

get is spelled G-E-T: 3 letters and one syllable. It appears 1,905 times per million words in written English, the 63rd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a verb, get means “To obtain; to acquire” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).

How many letters and syllables are in get?

Letters3: G-E-T
Syllables1 (from its American pronunciation)
In writing1,905 times per million words; the 63rd most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Rhymes with
Same letters

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.

How common is get?

Get appears 1,905 times per million words in written English, the 63rd most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce get?

  • US /ɡɛt/
  • /ɡɪt/
  • Australia /ɡet/

Get has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-get.ogg, En-us-git.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Words people confuse with get

Also written: gett, gotten, people who have, get, people who have, get more, them that has gets, them that has, gets more, them what has gets, them what has, gets more, those that have get, those that have get more.

Sources: English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).

What rhymes with get?

The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as get from its last stressed vowel (/ɛt/):

Spelled with the same letters in another order: teg.

Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).

Forms of get

  • gets present, singular, he/she/it, plural
  • getting participle, present
  • got past, participle, singular, he/she/it, plural
  • gotten UK, US, participle, past
  • getten participle, past
  • git
  • gittim plural
  • gitten plural
  • gett
  • ghet

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does get mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

verb

  1. 1

    To obtain; to acquire.

    I'm going to get a computer tomorrow from the discount store.

  2. 2

    To receive.

    I got a computer from my parents for my birthday.

  3. 3

    To have. See usage notes.

    I've got a concert ticket for you.

  4. 4

    To fetch, bring, take.

    Can you get my bag from the living-room, please?

  5. 5

    To become, or cause oneself to become (often with temporary states, past participle adjectives and comparatives).

    Near-synonyms: become, turn, go, come, fall, grow, wax

  6. 6

    To cause to become; to bring about.

    That song gets me so depressed every time I hear it.

  7. 7

    To cause to do.

    Somehow she got him to agree to it.

  8. 8

    To cause to come or go or move.

    I got him to his room.

noun

  1. 1

    datedOffspring, especially illegitimate.

  2. 2

    Lineage.

  3. 3

    A difficult return or block of a shot.

  4. 4

    informalSomething gotten, something gained or won; an acquisition.

  5. 5

    A message or post on an online platform, particularly imageboards, with a unique identifier deemed special or rare, usually due to patterns in the ID.

  6. 6

    IrelandUKSynonym of git (“contemptible person”).

  7. 7

    A Jewish writ of divorce.

noun

as Get
  1. 1

    A member of the Getae.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Get in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchobtenir (to obtain), recevoir (to receive), devenir (to become), faire devenir (to cause to become), ramener, chercher (to fetch)
Germanbesorgen, holen, erwischen, kriegen, sich schnappen, anschaffen (to obtain)
Portugueseconseguir, pegar, arrumar, obter, adquirir (to obtain), receber (to receive)
Spanishconseguir, conciliar, granjear, recabar, asacar (to obtain), tocarle (to receive)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does get come from?

From Middle English geten, from Old Norse geta, from Proto-Germanic *getaną (“to find; to acquire, attain, get, hold, receive”), from Proto-Indo-European *gʰed- (“to find; to hold; to seize; to take”).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after get