AAAmerican Accent US

get by

No object

This verb takes no object at all.

How to say it

Stress the particle, not the verb: get BY. Saying “GET by” is the clearest learner tell — the verb stays light and the particle carries the beat.

Do not release the /t/. Before the consonant of “by” the stop is held and swallowed rather than popped — the same unreleased-stop move as in hot dog. One smooth unit: “get by”.

What it means

  1. To survive or manage with barely enough.

    • “Maureen doesn't make much money, but she manages to get by.”
    • “We got by on rice and beans for most of that winter.”

    Similar: manage, scrape by

Don’t confuse it with

get throughTo survive or endure a difficult period to its end.

Get BY is surviving at a minimum, ongoing. Get THROUGH is reaching the end of a specific difficulty.

The particle logic

by

Movement past something, without stopping or with nothing to spare.

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More GET phrasal verbs

Compare the whole family →

get up

To rise from bed, or to stand up.

get along

To have a friendly relationship with someone.

get over

To recover from an illness, a shock or an upset.

get through

To survive or endure a difficult period to its end.

get rid of

To remove or dispose of something unwanted.

get away

To escape.

get away with

To do something wrong and escape the consequences.

get back

To return to a place.

get back at

To take revenge on someone.

get in

To enter a car or a small enclosed space.

get out

To leave a car or a building.

get out of

To avoid a duty you were supposed to do.

get by — meaning, examples & how to say it