Get as become
"Become" is a formal version of "get", which is colloquial. Formal English is usually written, that is, we use it in business letters, essays at university and reports. Colloquial English is chatty - the way we speak to friends.
This means that, when we are speaking to our friends, we say, "He got very cross." But when we WRITE a police report, we say: "He became very angry."
"Get" should not be used in formal texts, and teachers sometimes give exercises to their classes with instructions to find a "better" word to replace "get", for example:
1. Yesterday I got a letter from my boyfriend. (received)
2. He will get angry if you say that. (become)
3. When we got there, the show had already started. (arrived)
These are not "better" words, they are more formal words, for writing, not speaking.
No comments:
Post a Comment