get by

manage with what you have, even when it's not much

B2

What does "get by" mean?

To 'get by' means to have just enough — money, skills, or support — to manage your life without things falling apart. The phrase carries a strong sense of scarcity or difficulty: you are not thriving, but you are not failing either. It is most commonly used in financial contexts, such as living on a low income or a tight budget, but it can also describe getting along in a foreign language or coping without something you would normally need. The adverbs 'just' and 'barely' appear very often with this phrase to emphasise how close to the edge someone is — 'we're just getting by' suggests there is very little room to spare. Unlike more neutral words like 'manage', 'get by' almost always implies strain or limitation.

Examples

How to use it

get by (alone, no object)

The most common use — 'get by' stands alone as a complete expression when the context already makes the difficulty or limitation clear.

Things are tight at the moment, but we're getting by.

get by + on + resource

Use 'on' to specify the limited resource — money, income, savings, or anything the person is surviving with.

A lot of families in this city get by on a single income.

get by + without + something

Use 'without' to describe managing in the absence of something normally considered essential.

They live in a rural area but somehow get by without a car.

just / barely + get by

Adverbs like 'just' and 'barely' are very commonly placed before or after 'get by' to stress that survival is only at the most basic level.

After the rent increase, she was barely getting by on her part-time wages.

get by + in + situation/language

Use 'in' to describe managing within a particular environment or with a limited level of skill, especially in a language context.

His Spanish isn't perfect, but he can get by in most everyday situations.

Common Collocations

get by on a low salarybarely get byjust get byget by withoutget by on a budgetstruggle to get by

Common Mistakes

Using a direct object after 'by'

'Get by' is intransitive — 'by' cannot be directly followed by a noun phrase. To introduce the resource you are surviving on, you must use 'on' as a separate preposition.

✗ She gets by her savings every month.
✓ She gets by on her savings every month.
Confusing 'get by' with 'get through'

'Get through' describes surviving a specific, bounded difficult event or period — it has a clear end point. 'Get by' describes ongoing, day-to-day coping, often with limited resources, with no defined finish line.

✗ It was a hard year, but we got by the redundancies and came out stronger.
✓ It was a hard year, but we got through the redundancies and came out stronger.
Using 'get by' with a non-human subject

'Get by' is almost always used with a human subject — a person, a family, or a group of people. It does not describe objects, systems, or machines managing a task.

✗ The old heating system gets by on very little power.
✓ The family gets by on very little, keeping the heating off to save money.

Usage

This phrasal verb is neutral in register and works in both spoken and written English. It is especially common with 'just' or 'barely' to emphasise that someone is only managing at the most basic level.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does 'get by' always refer to money?

Not exclusively, but financial hardship is by far the most common context. You can also use 'get by' to describe managing with limited skills — for example, in a foreign language — or without something you would normally rely on. That said, if there is no financial or resource-related implication in your sentence, a word like 'manage' or 'cope' might sound more natural.

Can I use 'get by' to talk about a one-time difficult event, like a crisis or a tough week?

It's better not to. 'Get by' describes ongoing, day-to-day survival rather than enduring a single defined hardship with a clear end point. For a specific difficult episode — a tough week, a crisis, a hard month — 'get through' is the more natural choice.

Is 'get by' used differently in British and American English?

No significant difference — 'get by' in this sense is widely used and understood in both British and American English. The financial and coping meanings are equally familiar on both sides of the Atlantic.

Does 'get by' have another meaning I should know about?

Yes — 'get by' can also mean to physically pass someone or something that is in your way, as in 'Excuse me, could I get by?' This meaning is completely different. The context usually makes it obvious: the physical sense involves a blocked path, while the coping sense involves resources, money, or life circumstances.

Is it natural to use 'get by' in the present continuous, like 'we are getting by'?

Yes, this is very natural and common. The present continuous works well here because it emphasises that the coping is happening right now, as an ongoing situation. 'We're just getting by' is a particularly common and idiomatic phrase.

Related Phrasal Verbs

get along

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