grammar - What meaning of "get" is in the "get paid" phrase?



Get has a lot of meanings in English, but which one is used in phrase get paid? Get is often used for describing a change of state, similarly to become. But does get paid fall into this case? From what I know, when used with the verb in ING/ED state it means "begin with". Considering the change of state, should I think of it as that a person who gets paid is "becoming paid", and also his state changes to "paid" when he possesses the money? An additional question: My textbook says that GET + adjective expresses the change of state but I think it also applies to ppt past participle of verbs, right?



Answer



In the words of noted Minnesota folk grammarian Robert Zimmerman:



Get sick, get well, hang around the inkwell
Get jailed, jump bail, join the Army if you fail
Get born, keep warm, short pants, romance
Learn to dance, get dressed, get blessed, try to be a success.



These are all examples of "change of state". The examples using get above follow the same pattern as your own "get paid".


To wit, get here just means become.


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