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Can we use "get" in the meaning of bring, move, send or transport something or someone to somewhere?

For example, are the following sentences correct?

1 I got (sent, transported) the parcel to Spain last week.

2 How did you get (bring) such a big box to here?

3 Go to the post office and get (send) this mail to this address.

4 Please get (move) your car to the garage.

5 I got (transferred/took) my friend to her house by car after the party.

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  • I find only No. 2 idiomatic. To me, to get something to a place suggests transporting it yourself with some difficulty. I certainly wouldn't use it of sending mail or giving someone a lift (though it might be appropriate if the friend was drunk and incapable after the party!).
    – Kate Bunting
    Sep 28, 2022 at 8:29
  • Is it appropriate to use No. 2 in formal writing or it's just colloquial?
    – alireza
    Sep 28, 2022 at 10:38
  • Actually, I should have said 'I find the use of get in No. 2 idiomatic'. We say 'How did you get it here?', not 'to here'. I don't find it too colloquial - in very formal language you might use 'transport' or 'carry'.
    – Kate Bunting
    Sep 28, 2022 at 13:02
  • All of those are correct, except in #2 it's just "here", not "to here", and in #3 it would be "into the garage" rather than "to the garage". As Kate has noted, they're not necessarily the most common ways of saying things except it certain specific contexts
    – gotube ♦
    Sep 30, 2022 at 0:57

1 Answer 1

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"Get" is a generic version for all the other verbs used above.

It isn't necessarily used incorrectly, but in some cases it sounds awkward because one would normally use the more specific verb when they know it.

    1. I got the parcel to Spain (but I'm not telling you how).
    1. I got my friend to her house (but I won't say whether I drove her there).

In other cases, using "get" is the best choice.

    1. How did you get …? (I don't know specifically how, so I'm asking).
    1. Please get your car … (I don't care specifically how, just do it.)

Example 3 is imperative (like 4), but since I want you to be at the post office I do care and do know how it will eventually get to the address, so "send" (or "mail" or "post") would be appropriate.

In general, use "get" only when there isn't a more appropriate specific verb.

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