get around
3 meanings
travel or move from place to place
What does "get around" mean in this sense?
Examples
- It's easy to get around the city by tram — the network covers almost every neighbourhood.
- She uses a mobility scooter to get around, but she still goes everywhere independently.
- How did you get around when you were travelling in Japan without a car?
How to use it
The most common pattern — used to describe moving about in a place, with the location introduced by 'in', 'around', or similar prepositions.
It's really easy to get around the city once you know the metro system.
Use 'by' followed by a mode of transport to explain how someone travels from place to place.
Most locals get around by bicycle — the streets are very cycle-friendly.
Use 'on foot' (not 'by foot') when the means of travel is walking.
The old town is small enough to get around on foot in a couple of hours.
This evaluative frame is very common for describing how convenient or challenging movement in a place is.
The village was quite hard to get around without a car.
Used to describe managing to travel even without a particular resource or type of transport.
She sold her car last year but still manages to get around without one.
Common Collocations
Common Mistakes
When 'get around' means to travel, it is intransitive — no direct object follows. If you place a word like 'problem', 'rule', or 'law' directly after it, the meaning changes completely to 'avoid or circumvent'. Always check whether you mean physical movement or avoiding something.
When talking about walking as a means of getting around, English uses 'on foot', not 'by foot'. All other transport modes use 'by' (by bus, by bike), but walking is the exception.
In this sense, 'get around' cannot take a bare noun object referring to a person or thing being moved. You can say 'get around the city' with a location, but you cannot use it like 'get around something' meaning to carry or move an object.
Usage
This phrasal verb is neutral in register and works in both spoken and written English. 'Get about' means the same thing in British English, but 'get around' is understood everywhere and is more common in American English.
find a way to avoid a rule, problem, or person
Sense 2: What does "get around sb/sth" mean?
Examples
- There's no way to get around the new regulations — we have to comply.
- The company found a clever way to get around the import restrictions.
- Lawyers have been trying to get around this clause for years.
How to use it
The most common pattern — a specific obstacle, rule, or restriction follows directly after 'around'.
The startup found an ingenious way to get around the licensing requirements.
Modal and semi-modal verbs are very natural with this phrasal verb, especially to express possibility or impossibility.
Analysts have been trying to get around the data-sharing restrictions for months.
Negative constructions are especially common, often expressing that a constraint is unavoidable.
There's simply no way to get around the new import tariffs — every business will be affected.
Pronouns can replace the noun object, but they must always follow 'around', never appear between 'get' and 'around'.
The policy is strict — I'm not sure how we're going to get around it.
Common Collocations
Common Mistakes
'Get around to' means to finally do something you've been putting off — it's a completely different meaning. 'Get around' (without 'to') means to bypass or overcome an obstacle. Adding 'to' before a gerund completely changes the sense.
Because the object follows the preposition 'around' rather than acting as a direct object of 'get', passive constructions don't work naturally with this phrasal verb.
This phrasal verb never separates. The object — whether a noun or pronoun — must always come after 'around', not between 'get' and 'around'.
Usage
This phrasal verb is neutral and works in both spoken and written English, from casual conversation to journalism and business. It is slightly less formal than 'circumvent' or 'bypass', but appropriate in most contexts.
(news or rumours) spread and become known to many people
Sense 3: What does "get around" mean?
Examples
- Word got around that the manager was leaving the company.
- News gets around fast in a small office — you can't keep secrets.
- It had already got around that the school was going to close.
How to use it
The subject is always an abstract information noun — most naturally 'word', 'news', or 'rumour' — and the phrasal verb follows with no object.
Rumours got around quickly after the announcement was made.
A 'that' clause is commonly added after 'get around' to specify the content of the information; 'Word got around that...' is almost a fixed expression.
Word got around that the company was planning to relocate its headquarters.
The dummy subject 'it' can replace 'word' or 'news' when the content is introduced immediately in a 'that' clause.
It soon got around that the venue had been changed at the last minute.
Adverbs like 'quickly', 'fast', and 'soon' are commonly placed between the subject and the phrasal verb, or at the end of the clause, to emphasise speed.
In a small office, gossip gets around fast — there's no such thing as a private conversation.
Common Collocations
Common Mistakes
In this sense, the subject must always be an information noun like 'word', 'news', or 'rumour' — not a person. If a person is the subject, the sentence shifts to the mobility sense ('she gets around the city by bike'), which means something completely different.
This sense of 'get around' is intransitive — it never takes a direct object. Learners sometimes try to use it like 'spread' with an object, but that produces an ungrammatical sentence.
'Get around to' is a separate three-part phrasal verb meaning to eventually find time to do something. The spreading sense never takes 'to' — if you see 'get around to' followed by a gerund, it is a completely different meaning.
Usage
This sense is neutral and works in both British and American English. The construction 'Word got around that...' followed by a clause is extremely common and natural — it is worth learning as a fixed pattern.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does 'get around' always need a place mentioned, or can I use it alone?
You can use it without mentioning a specific place when the context makes it clear. For example, 'She doesn't drive, but she gets around fine' is perfectly natural. The location phrase is optional.
Is 'get around' the same as 'get about'?
'Get about' means the same thing and is common in British English. 'Get around' is used in both British and American English and is understood everywhere, so it's the safer choice if you're unsure of your audience.
Can 'get around' have more than one meaning? How do I know which one is being used?
Yes — 'get around' has a few different meanings. The travel sense has a human subject and often includes a location or transport mode ('get around by bus', 'get around the city'). If a rule, problem, or obstacle follows directly as an object, the meaning is about avoiding something. If the subject is 'news' or 'word', it means information is spreading.
What kinds of subjects can 'get around' have in this sense?
In the travel sense, the subject is always a person or animate being who is physically moving around — for example, 'she', 'we', 'tourists', or 'people with disabilities'. Inanimate subjects like 'news' or 'the story' signal a different meaning.
Can I use 'get around' to describe general mobility, like an elderly person moving independently?
Yes, this is actually one of the most natural uses. Saying someone 'gets around well' or 'finds it hard to get around' is a common and sensitive way to talk about a person's ability to move about independently, including after an injury or in older age.
Does 'get around' always mean to avoid something? I've seen it used in other ways.
No — 'get around' has more than one meaning. This entry covers only the sense of bypassing a rule, problem, or restriction. The same form is also used to mean 'travel from place to place' and appears in the separate phrase 'get around to', which means to finally do something you've been postponing. The key clue for this sense is that the object is always something rule-like or structural — a law, a regulation, a restriction, or an obstacle.
What kinds of things can follow 'get around'?
Typical objects are rules, laws, regulations, bans, restrictions, policies, limitations, and problems or obstacles that act as barriers. You can also use it more metaphorically — for example, getting around a technical limitation or getting around someone's objections. What doesn't fit this sense is a personal task or appointment; for those, you'd use 'get around to'.
Is 'get around' informal? Can I use it in a report or article?
'Get around' is neutral in register and works well in most contexts, from everyday conversation to journalism, business writing, and legal commentary. It's slightly less formal than 'circumvent' or 'bypass', but it's perfectly appropriate in semi-formal writing. If you're writing something very formal, such as an academic paper or legal document, you might prefer 'circumvent'.
Can I use 'get around' without an object?
Not in this sense — when 'get around' means to avoid or overcome something, it always needs an object after 'around'. You must specify what is being bypassed. You can use a pronoun like 'it' or 'that' if the obstacle is already clear from context, but the object can never be dropped entirely.
Does 'get around' always mean that information spread unofficially or as gossip?
Not always officially gossip, but it does imply the information moved informally — through social circles, workplaces, or communities rather than through press releases or formal channels. If you want a more neutral tone that works in formal writing, 'spread' or 'circulate' would be better choices.
Can 'get around' be used in the present continuous — like 'news is getting around'?
It is grammatically possible, but it sounds less natural than the simple forms. Native speakers almost always prefer 'news gets around' or 'word got around' over the continuous form. Stick to simple present or simple past in most situations.
Can I use 'get around' in the passive — for example, 'it was got around that...'?
No — this phrasal verb is intransitive in this sense, which means a passive construction is not possible. The news or rumour is always the grammatical subject performing the action of spreading.
Is 'word got around' really that common, or can I use other nouns as the subject?
'Word got around' is by far the most frequent pattern — it is almost a fixed expression in English. That said, 'news gets around', 'rumours got around', and 'the story got around' are all very natural. 'Word' is simply the most idiomatic and frequent choice.
Does 'get around' in this sense work the same way in British and American English?
Yes — this sense is equally natural in both varieties. There is no significant difference in meaning or frequency between British and American usage here.
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