grammar - How is 'get' being used in these sentences?


What grammar structure is this?



  1. Bob got/had me drunk.

  2. She's got me spending.

  3. Get moving!

  4. Get going!

  5. That music gets/has me dancing!

  6. He had/got me stumped.

  7. She had/got me stoned.


Is it possible to say: She has/had me spending?



Answer



Got can be used as an auxiliary verb meaning



reach or cause to reach a specified state or condition




  • [with object and complement]: I need to get my hair cut




  • [as auxiliary verb] used with past participle to form the passive mood: the cat got drowned




  • [with object and past participle] cause to be treated in a specified way: get the form signed by a doctor [got met drunk; [has] got me stumped; got me stoned]




  • [with object and infinitive] induce or prevail upon (someone) to do something: they got her to sign the consent form




  • [no object, with infinitive] have the opportunity to do:he got to try out a few of these nice new cars




  • [no object, with present participle or infinitive] begin to be or do something, especially gradually or by chance: we got talking one evening [got me spending; get going; gets me dancing]





While have is a much used helping verb, some of your proposed constructions do work and some do not.


OK:



He had me stumped.


That music has me dancing.


She had me spending [but probably would not be used without additional modifiers, such as like a drunken sailor]



Not OK:



Bob had me drunk.


She had me stoned.



Comments

Popular posts from this blog

verbs - "Baby is creeping" vs. "baby is crawling" in AmE

commas - Does this sentence have too many subjunctives?

grammatical number - Use of lone apostrophe for plural?

etymology - Where does the phrase "doctored" originate?

phrases - Somebody is gonna kiss the donkey

typography - When a dagger is used to indicate a note, must it come after an asterisk?

etymology - Origin of "s--t eating grin"