Page 233 - Practical English Usage 3ed - Michael Swan, Oxford

5 Get the children dressed
We can also use get + object + past participle to talk about completing work on something.
It will take me another hour to get the washing done.
After you'lie got the children dressed, can you make the beds?
225 get and go: movement
Go is used to talk about a whole movement.
Get is used when we are thinking mainly about the end of a movement - the arrival. Compare:
- 1go to work by car and Lucy goes by train.
I usually get there first.
- I went to a meeting in Bristol yesterday.
I got to the meeting at about eight o'clock.
We often use get to suggest that there is some difficulty in arriving.
It wasn't easy to get through the crowd.
I don't know how we're going to get oller the riller. Can you tell me how to get to the police station?
For get and go meaning 'become', see 128.
226 give with action-nouns
1 give a cough, etc
We can replace certain verbs by a structure with gille and a noun. This often happens in BrE, for example, with verbs referring to sounds made by people (e.g. cough, cry, scream, chuckle, laugh, shout).
He gave a cough to attract my attention.
Suddenly she galle a loud scream and fell to the ground.
2 give somebody a smile, etc
The structure is also used with an indirect object (in both BrE and ArnE) to replace transitive verbs, especially in an informal style. Common expressions: gille somebody a smile, a look, a kiss, a hug, a ring (BrE = a phone call)
gille something a push, a kick
gille it a try, a go (BrE =a try), a shot (AmE =a try) gille it a miss (BrE)
not gille it a thought
She galle me a strange look.
I'll give you a ring ifI hear anything.
If the car won't start, we'll give it a push.
Perhaps salt will make it taste better. - OK, let's give it a try.
Are you coming to the film? - No, I'm tired. I'll give it a miss. (BrE) He seemed to be in a bad temper, but I didn't give it a thought.
For taboo expressions like J don't give a damn/shit etc, see 575. For other structures in which nouns replace verbs, see 598.
For more about structures with give. see 610.
give with action-nouns 226
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