get across

make an idea or message clear to others

B2

What does "get sth across" mean?

To get something across means to successfully make an idea, message, or point understood by another person or group. The focus is on whether the communication actually works — whether the other person truly receives and understands what you are trying to say. It often appears with language about effort or difficulty, such as 'struggle to', 'hard to', or 'manage to', because getting a complex or important idea understood is not always easy. You often specify who you are communicating to by adding 'to' followed by the audience, for example 'to the board', 'to her students', or 'to the public'. The emphasis is always on the communicator's deliberate act of making something clear, not on how they come across as a person.

Examples

How to use it

get + object + across

The most common structure, with the object (usually a word like 'point', 'message', or 'idea') placed between the verb and 'across'.

The presenter struggled to get her main argument across in the limited time available.

get + object + across + to + audience

Use 'to' followed by a person or group to specify who you are trying to communicate with.

It took several attempts, but he finally got his proposal across to the management team.

get + pronoun + across

When the object is a pronoun, it must go between 'get' and 'across' — it cannot follow 'across'.

That's a tricky concept, but I think I managed to get it across during the training session.

struggle / try / manage + to + get + object + across

This phrasal verb very commonly follows verbs of effort or success, which highlight whether the communication worked or not.

She tried for several minutes to get her point across, but the noise in the room made it almost impossible.

hard / difficult / easy + to + get + object + across

Adjectives describing how challenging communication is frequently precede the infinitive form of this phrasal verb.

Abstract financial concepts can be really hard to get across to people without a business background.

Common Collocations

get a point acrossget a message acrossget an idea acrossstruggle to get acrosshard to get acrossget it across

Common Mistakes

Pronoun placement

When using a pronoun as the object, it must go between 'get' and 'across'. Placing it after 'across' is ungrammatical in this sense.

✗ I tried to get across it as clearly as possible.
✓ I tried to get it across as clearly as possible.
Confusing with 'come across'

'Come across' is intransitive and describes how someone or something is perceived by others, while 'get across' is transitive and focuses on the act of successfully communicating an idea. Mixing them up produces the wrong meaning.

✗ She got across as very confident during the interview.
✓ She came across as very confident during the interview. / She got her enthusiasm across during the interview.
Separating with a long phrase

Although this phrasal verb separates naturally with short objects, inserting a very long noun phrase between 'get' and 'across' sounds awkward. Move the long phrase to after 'across' instead.

✗ He got the idea that everyone should take equal responsibility for the project's outcome across.
✓ He got across the idea that everyone should take equal responsibility for the project's outcome.

Usage

This phrasal verb is neutral and works in both spoken and written English, from casual conversation to professional presentations. It is often used with verbs of effort like 'struggle to', 'try to', or 'manage to', emphasising whether communication was successful or difficult.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can 'get across' be used without an object?

Not in this sense. The thing being communicated — the point, message, or idea — is essential and must be included. You cannot say 'I couldn't get across' to mean that you failed to communicate; you need to specify what you were trying to communicate, for example 'I couldn't get my point across'.

Can 'get across' be used in the passive, like 'the message was got across'?

This is very rarely done and sounds unnatural in everyday English. Because the focus of 'get across' is on the communicator's effort and success, speakers almost always keep the person doing the communicating as the subject. It is much more natural to say 'she got the message across' than to use a passive form.

Is there a difference between 'get across' and 'put across'?

'Put across' is a very close synonym and the two are often interchangeable. However, 'put across' tends to sound slightly more deliberate or formal, and is often associated with prepared communication such as arguments or proposals. 'Get across' places a little more emphasis on whether the communication was actually successful or how challenging it was.

Does 'get across' have a completely different meaning in some contexts?

Yes — 'get across' can also mean to physically cross or move to the other side of something, as in 'we need to get across the river before dark'. In that literal sense, no idea or message is involved. You can always tell the difference by looking at the object: if it's a word like 'point', 'message', or 'idea', it's the communicative sense.

What kinds of things can be the object of 'get across'?

The object is almost always something abstract that can be communicated — most typically 'point', 'message', 'idea', 'concept', 'meaning', or 'information'. You would not use 'get across' with concrete physical objects. The verb works best when the focus is on making an idea understood by someone else.

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