To Have and to Get

Can I Have? / Can I Get?

I'd like to start by commenting on the very widespread mix up of the verbs have and get and would like to know how it came about.

You use "get" if you are asking permission to fetch something or if you are asking someone if they'd like you to obtain something for them. So "can I get some paper for the photocopier please?" if you were asking your boss for permission for a visit to the stationery room, or "can I get you anything from the supermarket?" if you were heading into town.

However, you use "have" if you are asking a person to serve you something, hence "can I have a beer please?" to the barman in a pub, or "can I have a latte please?" at Starbucks.

When I'm out and about though, I constantly hear "can I get?" in the second situation, so "can I get a coffee?", or "can I get a beer, please?" I end up thinking: are they going to jump over the bar and serve themselves? THIS USAGE IS INCORRECT

This seems to be a very common mix up these days, particularly with the under 30's, so let’s see if we can get this one right.

THE VERB TO GET

TO GET can be used in a number of patterns and has a number of meanings.

TO GET + DIRECT OBJECT = TO OBTAIN, TO RECEIVE, TO BUY

✪ I got my passport last week. (to obtain)
✪ She got her driving license last week. (to obtain)
✪ They got permission to live in Switzerland. (to obtain)
✪ I got a letter from my friend in Nigeria. (to receive)
✪ He gets $1,000 a year from his father. (to receive)
✪ She got a new coat from Zappaloni in Rome. (to buy)
✪ We got a new television for the sitting room. (to buy)


TO GET + PLACE EXPRESSION = REACH, ARRIVE AT A PLACE

✪ How are you getting home tonight?
✪ We got to London around 6 p.m.
✪ What time will we get there?
✪ When did you get back from New York?


TO GET + ADJECTIVE = BECOME, SHOW A CHANGE OF STATE

✪ I am getting old.
✪ It's getting hotter.
✪ By the time they reached the house they were getting hungry.
✪ I'm getting tired of all this nonsense.
✪ My mother's getting old and needs looking after.
✪ It gets dark very early in the winter.
✪ Don't touch the stove until is gets cool.

OTHER EXPRESSIONS WITH GET

• Do you get it means do you understand.
  Do you get what the teacher was explaining in class?
• He's getting dinner tonight means he's preparing the meal.
  You can relax. It's my turn to get dinner tonight.
• I'll get the bill means I'll pay.
  Put your wallet away! I'll get the bill.
• That really gets me! means that irritates me.
  It really gets me when my sister shows up late.
• To get rid of something means to throw it away.
  I'm going to get rid of all these old newspapers.
• To get out of bed on the wrong side means to be in a bad mood.
  He got out of the wrong side of the bed this morning and he's been horrible all day.
• To get your own back means to have your revenge or punish someone.
  She's getting her own back for all those rude things you said at the party last night.

Can I get a coffee, Please?

The last year or so has seen a proliferation of the use of 'Can I get' instead of 'Can I have' and frankly it drives me mad. I'm not really sure where it has come from though I'm tempted to say that it falls into the Americanism's category. It is almost exclusively use by younger members of society and I've rarely, if ever heard it used by any anyone in Britain over the age of 50.

‘Can I get some more paper?’
‘Yes, it’s on the table over there – help yourself.’
 
This would be an unremarkable question and answer pattern but the colleague who was asked this question by several native speakers of British English recently was the invigilator of an exam and certainly did not give that response! The expectation of ‘going and getting’ some more paper cannot have been in the students’ or the invigilator’s mind.

So what the students meant was: ‘Can I have some more paper?’ (I’d like to be given some more paper).

This use of ‘Can I get’ for ‘Can I have’ has become increasingly common in the younger age groups of British English speakers. I first remember noticing it in the late 1990s, when the Friends effect was strong in the UK. Now you will often hear someone asking ‘Can I get a coffee?’ or ‘Can I get an egg sandwich?’ at a takeaway counter. It is, of course, common in American English.

Both the UK and US versions of the Macmillan English Dictionary record the ‘Can I have’ formula for requests, giving it the specific context of polite requests for food and drink. They also both record the ‘go and bring back’ sense of ‘get’. But, in common with the most recently published ELT dictionaries, neither appears to show that ‘get’ is being used in requests for something to be given, in British English as well as American English.

To get
[transitive] [never passive] to obtain, receive, or be given something

Ross's father got a new job.

Did you get tickets for the game?

I got a fine for reckless driving.

You get ten points for each correct answer.

get something from someone:

She got a ring from her grandmother.

get someone something/get something for someone:

The social worker got the family a new flat and clothes for the children.

get an answer/reply etc:

She called out to him but got no reply.

get the chance/opportunity:

Young players will get the chance to meet one of their heroes.

get permission/approval etc:

We got permission from the council to start building.

to obtain, receive, or be given something

Synonyms or related words for this sense of get

To get something or someone: get, come by, accept, obtain, gain, derive, get together, bring, find... more

1. a. to buy something
   

   Synonyms or related words for this sense of get

   To buy something: buy, get, purchase, invest in, buy up, import, place, get in, splash out, buy into... more
2.  b. to go and bring something back from somewhere else
   

   Synonyms or related words for this sense of get

   To go somewhere and get something or someone: get, pick up, call for, go for, collect, fetch... more
3. c. to earn or receive an amount of money
   

   Synonyms or related words for this sense of get

   To earn a particular amount of money: generate, get, get back, gross, net, realize, get together, turn over, make, draw... more
4. d. to obtain information
   

   Synonyms or related words for this sense of get

   To find out information: find out, read up on, hear of, discover, find, read, collect, get... more
5. e. to start to have an idea or feeling
   

   Synonyms or related words for this sense of get

   To form an opinion, or to have an idea: measure, come up with, judge, infer, appraise, conceive, hit on, sum up, conceptualize, draw a conclusion/an inference... more
6. f. to start to have an illness or medical condition
   

   Synonyms or related words for this sense of get

   To have or develop an illness or symptom: suffer, get, contract, come down with, develop, catch, have, afflict, go down with, swim... more
7. g. to obtain a benefit or have a positive feeling when you do something
   

   Synonyms or related words for this sense of get

   To enjoy something, or to enjoy yourself: like, enjoy, go in for, delight in, savour, revel in, love, have your fun, take/find pleasure in (doing) something, go out... more
8. h. to obtain a particular result
   

   Synonyms or related words for this sense of get

   To involve, or to be the result of something: result, follow, come out of, ensue, flow from, culminate in, end in, turn out, grow out of, add up to... more

Have can be used in the following ways:

as an auxiliary verb in perfect tenses of verbs (followed by a past participle): We have lived here for 20 years. ♦ Who's eaten all the grapes? (used without a following past participle): Ellen hasn't finished, but I have. Questions, negatives, and question tags using the auxiliary verb have are formed without do: Has the meeting finished? ♦ You haven't eaten anything. ♦ The customers haven't complained, have they?

as a transitive verb used in descriptions and for talking about possession, relationships, or the state that someone or something is in: She has dark curly hair. ♦ He had two sisters. This use of have is never in progressive or passive forms. Have got is often used instead of have for these meanings, especially in spoken English and informal writing: Alan's got a new bike. Questions and negatives can be formed by using have got, have alone, or do: Have you got any money? ♦ Have you any money? ♦ Do you have any money? ♦ We haven't got any money. ♦ We haven't any money. ♦ We don't have any money. Question tags are formed with have when the main verb is have got: They've got a lovely garden, haven't they?

as a transitive verb used for talking about actions and experiences: Let's have a swim before lunch. ♦ I had a good time at the party. This use of have can sometimes be in the progressive but is almost never in the passive: She's having a baby. ♦ Are you having a drink? Have got is not used, and neither short forms of have nor weak forms of pronunciation are ever used in these meanings. Questions, negatives, and question tags are formed with do: Did you have a nice walk? ♦ I didn't have breakfast this morning. ♦ They had quite a bad accident, didn't they?

as a transitive verb (followed by an object and then a participle or infinitive without 'to'): How often do you have your hair cut? ♦ I'll have someone clean out your room. This use of have can be in the progressive: I'm having all the carpets cleaned. Questions, negatives, and question tags are formed with do: Did you have the engine checked?

as a verb used for talking about what is necessary (followed by a verb in the infinitive with 'to'): I had to wait for an hour. (followed by 'to' without a verb in the infinitive): We'll fight for our rights if we have to. This use of have can be in the progressive: I was having to work every weekend. Have got to is often used instead of have to, especially in spoken English and in informal writing: You've got to show your passport. Questions can be formed using do, have got, or have alone: Do we have to pay now? ♦ Have we got to pay now? ♦ Have we to pay now? Negative sentences are usually formed with do or have got: You don't have to pay yet. ♦ You haven't got to pay yet. Question tags are usually formed with do: We have to take a test, don't we?