# get + infinitive



## gabriel001234

"When the chat is full of jerks, we get to ban a lot of people, which I hate to do."

What does get mean in that context? "Bring about"? "Have the opportunity to do?" "Be enabled"? "Cause"? "Be able"?


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## Vronsky

Some people can use get instead of any other verb. Here it seems that get replaced have.


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## dojibear

When the chat is full of jerks, we *get *the task of banning a lot people. 

The task is ours to do, since we are the chat room moderators.


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## velisarius

I'm not sure about this use of the verb "get to", which I perceive as typically AE.

Is this an unusual use of "get to", doji?  I usually see it with the meaning "have the (welcome) opportunity to..." Here it appears to be more negative.


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## dojibear

Yes, in AE "get to" usually means "have the welcome opportunity to". And it sounds like that, the way the example sentence in #1 is worded. I had to re-read the sentence twice before it suddenly "meant something different" to me, with a different sense of "get to".

"Get to" is also used to talk about tasks, in the sense of an area of responsibility. "When this needs to be done, we are the ones who get to do it." It is often phrased more clearly as something like:

...we get the task of banning a lot of people.
...we get the job of banning a lot of people.

In #1, that is shortened to the (confusing) phrase:

...we get to ban a lot of people.


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## VicNicSor

I think it may have this meaning:


> Sometimes this phrase is used sarcastically to mean "I am being forced to do something that I don't want to do". For example:
> 
> _I get to grade 40 tests this weekend!_
> 
> should be interpreted as something along the lines of
> 
> _I'd rather be doing something else, but I must grade 40 tests this weekend._


"Get to do something"


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## velisarius

If it does have that meaning here, Vic, the speaker sabotages any attempt at irony by adding "which I hate to do".


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## VicNicSor

velisarius said:


> If it does have that meaning here, Vic, the speaker sabotages any attempt at irony by adding "which I hate to do".



I just guessed that banning a lot of people is boring, so it made sense. As to the losing of the irony... maybe the speaker just wanted to be utterly clear, in case someone didn't get the irony
Just a guess.


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## velisarius

Yes, or we could go for the simpler explanation and accept that the writer really meant to say this:



dojibear said:


> ..we get the task of banning a lot of people.
> ...we get the job of banning a lot of people.


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## gabriel001234

velisarius said:


> Yes, or we could go for the simpler explanation and accept that the writer really meant to say this:


Is there any dictionary that shows get as "have" with the same meaning you guys were talking about?


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## velisarius

When the moderators "get" the task of banning those jerks, they then "have" that task to do. 



gabriel001234 said:


> When the chat is full of jerks, we get to ban a lot of people, which I hate to do.




_When the chat is full of jerks, we get to ban the job of banning/lumbered with banning a lot of people, which I hate to do.
_
If you get something given to you, even if you don't want it, it is then something that you have.
We get (receive or acquire) the job of banning - it is given to us to ban - we have the job of banning.


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## VicNicSor

But is it really the simpler way?...
I mean, we see that the usual meaning of "to get to do something" doesn't fit, so we modify the phrase so that it had a little different meaning...


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## velisarius

When the writer is someone who comes up with something like this, then yes:

_When the chat is full of jerks..._

If the writer seems to be otherwise perfectly competent, I would search deeper.


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## VicNicSor

velisarius said:


> When the writer is someone who comes up with something like this, then yes:
> 
> _When the chat is full of jerks..._
> 
> If the writer seems to be otherwise perfectly competent, I would search deeper.


I see.


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## gabriel001234

velisarius said:


> When the moderators "get" the task of banning those jerks, they then "have" that task to do.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> _When the chat is full of jerks, we get to ban the job of banning/lumbered with banning a lot of people, which I hate to do.
> _
> If you get something given to you, even if you don't want it, it is then something that you have.
> We get (receive or acquire) the job of banning - it is given to us to ban - we have the job of banning.


I know but I would like to find a dictionary that showed me that use of get when it is a intransitive verb in the same way as in the sentence that a gaming streamer said during a livestream on Twitch. Is there any dictionary that includes that use of "get" in the meanings of the verb?


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## velisarius

Do you mean the usage "get to do something"?


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## gabriel001234

velisarius said:


> Do you mean the usage "get to do something"?


Yes, but with the same meaning that you were talking about ("have to do something").


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## velisarius

> get to do something
> informal to have the opportunity to do something We got to meet all the stars after the show. She gets to travel all over the place with her job.→ get
> get to do something | meaning of get to do something in Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English | LDOCE


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## gabriel001234

Thanks for answering my question. Just one more thing: was my sentence unclear or gramatically incorrect (the one before my answer to your question)?


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## velisarius

Hmm..."a dictionary that will show me that use [...] in the same way as *in *the sentence that a gaming streamer said during a livestream on Twitch" - it had me puzzled, because I don't think you mentioned this context before. Your sentence was a little awkward, but understandable.


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## gabriel001234

velisarius said:


> Hmm..."a dictionary that will show me that use [...] in the same way as *in *the sentence that a gaming streamer said during a livestream on Twitch" - it had me puzzled, because I don't think you mentioned this context before. Your sentence was a little awkward, but understandable.


Thanks for your answer. Also, the meaning of "get to do" that is in the dictionary you recommended to me doesn't seem to apply to what the streamer said ("I get to ban a lot of people..."). So can you send me a link to a dictionary which shows the same usage of the expression "get to do something" that was used in the sentence said by the streamer, please? Again, thanks for your help!


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## velisarius

But isn't that what dojibear and I have been saying? The original "get to do" isn't appropriate for what we presume was the intended meaning of this guy you call "the streamer".


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## gabriel001234

velisarius said:


> But isn't that what dojibear and I have been saying? The original "get to do" isn't appropriate for what we presume was the intended meaning of this guy you call "the streamer".


You two said that it means "have to do something", but I couldn't find anything like that on the Internet. The link you sent to me shows "get to do" in the form of "have the opportunity to do", but I wanted something that showed it in the form of "have to do".


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## lingobingo

I thought this was fairly simple? My take on "get to [do something]" is that it's extremely versatile and can be either positive or negative.

My ex-wife has custody of the kids, so I only get to see them once a month.
Yay! Next summer we get to go to Disneyland at last!
Oh typical! Everyone else has gone to bed, so I get to do all the clearing up.
So, when do we get to meet your new boyfriend?


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## gabriel001234

lingobingo said:


> I thought this was fairly simple? My take on "get to [do something]" is that it's extremely versatile and can be either positive or negative.
> 
> My ex-wife has custody of the kids, so I only get to see them once a month.
> Yay! Next summer we get to go to Disneyland at last!
> Oh typical! Everyone else has gone to bed, so I get to do all the clearing up.
> So, when do we get to meet your new boyfriend?


Does the third sentence mean "I have to do" and do the others mean "I have the opportunity"?


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## VicNicSor

gabriel001234 said:


> Does the third sentence mean "I have to do" and the others mean "I have the opportunity"?


The third sentence is more like in the quote in #6.


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## gabriel001234

VicNicSor said:


> The third sentence is more like in the quote in #6.


Do I need to use the auxiliary "do" when I connect two questions with "and" and the second one asks about a different person/thing, or can I leave it out?
"Does the first sentence mean XYZ and the others mean ABC?"
OR
"Does the first sentence mean XYZ and do the others mean ABC?"


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## lingobingo

gabriel001234 said:


> Does the third sentence mean "I have to do" and do the others mean "I have the opportunity"?



Yes. But that wasn't intentional — I was just giving random examples of usage. Let's redress the balance:

It's not fair that I only ever get to wear my sister's hand-me-downs.
How come I always get to play the back-end of the pantomime horse?​


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## srk

lingobingo said:


> Oh typical! Everyone else has gone to bed, so I get to do all the clearing up.





lingobingo said:


> How come I always get to play the back-end of the pantomime horse?


These are sarcastic uses of "get to," which in my experience is only positive in ordinary use.

I can only make sense of "get to" in the quote in the OP as sarcasm.


gabriel001234 said:


> "When the chat is full of jerks, we get to ban a lot of people, which I hate to do."



Edit:


gabriel001234 said:


> "When the chat is full of jerks, we get to ban a lot of people -- 'lucky' us. which I hate to do."



Edit:  Added the blue "in" which gabriel saw missing.


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## gabriel001234

srk said:


> These are sarcastic uses of "get to," which in my experience is only positive in ordinary use.
> 
> I can only make sense of "get to" the quote in the OP as sarcasm.


What does "I can only make sense of" mean? "Understand"?


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## srk

gabriel001234 said:


> What does "I can only make sense of" mean? "Understand"?


Yes.


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## lingobingo

I don't see the line in the OP as sarcastic. Nor was any sarcasm intended in my examples, which were simply meant to demonstrate ways in which the idiom "get to [do something]" is frequently used. Admittedly there may well be a British/American divide, but I don't feel the need to pin the phrase down to any one meaning.


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## gabriel001234

srk said:


> Yes.


Then did you say "I can only understand 'get to' the quote in the OP as sarcasm"? Is a preposition supposed to be before "quote" ?


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## VicNicSor

lingobingo said:


> I don't see the line in the OP as sarcastic. Nor was any sarcasm intended in my examples, which were simply meant to demonstrate ways in which the idiom "get to [do something]" is frequently used. Admittedly there may well be a British/American divide, but I don't feel the need to pin the phrase down to any one meaning.



1. It's not fair that I only ever get to wear my sister's hand-me-downs.
2. How come I always get to play the back-end of the pantomime horse?
3. My ex-wife has custody of the kids, so I only get to see them once a month.
4. Yay! Next summer we get to go to Disneyland at last!
5. Oh typical! Everyone else has gone to bed, so I get to do all the clearing up.
6. So, when do we get to meet your new boyfriend?

In my opinion, all these are the "opportunity" examples, 2 and 5 being the "sarcastic" ones. If we change "always" to "only" in 2, it'll become a normal example, like 1. Do I correctly undresrand?...


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## lingobingo

2. How come I always *have* to play the back-end of the pantomime horse?
5. Oh typical! Everyone else has gone to bed, so I *have* to do all the clearing up.

Change _get_ to _have_ and you can see how these work. I don't see them as implying "opportunity" (and I think talk of sarcasm is a red herring). The expression can be used in different ways. That's the only point I'm trying to make.


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## gabriel001234

VicNicSor said:


> 1. It's not fair that I only ever get to wear my sister's hand-me-downs.
> 2. How come I always get to play the back-end of the pantomime horse?
> 3. My ex-wife has custody of the kids, so I only get to see them once a month.
> 4. Yay! Next summer we get to go to Disneyland at last!
> 5. Oh typical! Everyone else has gone to bed, so I get to do all the clearing up.
> 6. So, when do we get to meet your new boyfriend?
> 
> In my opinion, all these are the "opportunity" examples, 2 and 5 being the "sarcastic" ones. If we change "always" to "only" in 2, it'll become a normal example, like 1. Do I correctly undresrand?...



But what does OP means?


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## VicNicSor

Oh, sorry, I have just noticed srk's post #29, which I seem to have almost repeated!


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## srk

gabriel001234 said:


> Is a preposition supposed to be before "quote" ?


Yes.  I brain-dropped an "in" before "quote."


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## VicNicSor

gabriel001234 said:


> But what does OP means?


You may choose from what you've received in this thread:
1. the sarcastic meaning of "to have an opportunity"
2. "to get to do" = "to have to do"
3. to get the task/job of banning


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## gabriel001234

VicNicSor said:


> You may choose from what you've received in this thread:
> 1. the sarcastic meaning of "to have an opportunity"
> 2. "to get to do" = "to have to do"
> 3. to get the task/job of banning


I think that each meaning has to be examined separately, but I think the second meaning is the one that can be applied perfectly to what the sentence is supposed to mean. But what does OP mean?


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## PaulQ

gabriel001234 said:


> But what does OP mean?


OP = Original Poster -> the person who made the first post... in this case, you.


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## VicNicSor

I, personally, always use "OP" regarding myself meaning "original post" (i.e. post #1 in my thread); more specifically -- the quote posted in #1.


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## lingobingo

The problem is that OP is used to mean both original post and original poster. Very annoying!


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## velisarius

lingobingo said:


> I thought this was fairly simple? My take on "get to [do something]" is that it's extremely versatile and can be either positive or negative.
> 
> My ex-wife has custody of the kids, so I only get to see them once a month.
> Yay! Next summer we get to go to Disneyland at last!
> Oh typical! Everyone else has gone to bed, so I get to do all the clearing up.
> So, when do we get to meet your new boyfriend?




Your examples all seem very  natural. 
_
When the chat is full of jerks, we get to ban a lot of people,  - _I was wondering whether this doesn't imply that "we get to ban" is positive. I would read it as positive, but "which I hate to do" shows us that it's intended to be negative. Part of the problem is that many people would assume that moderators do enjoy the opportunity of banning people.

"Oh typical! Everyone else has gone to bed, so I get to do all the clearing up." This is good, because it shows from the start that "get to do" is negative here.


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