Writers occasionally confuse 'getaway' and 'get away'.
Getaway
The noun 'getaway' has
two meanings:
A location visited to
escape daily routine.
 Alison
is going to a little getaway in the hills for a week. 
This
is my little getaway. I come here every Friday night. |
An escape.
The
robbers made their getaway in a silver Mondeo.
Fingers, you can be the getaway driver.
('Getaway' is an adjective in this
example. Like most nouns, getaway can be used as an adjective too.) |
Get Away
'Get away' has two meanings:
(As a verb)
To escape or to keep away.
Tonight, the prisoners will attempt to get away.
(get away = to escape)
Get
away from my apples, you pesky kids.
(get away = keep away) |
(As an interjection)
Never or unbelievable.
Is
that true? Get away.
(Get away = never or unbelievable)
Get away, a 12-pound bass? Are you sure it was Lee who caught it?
(Get away = never or unbelievable) |
Select the correct version:
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PREPOSITIONAL VERBS IN INFORMAL CIRCUMSTANCES
The word 'away' is a preposition. 'To
get away' is a 'prepositional verb'.
Verbs comprising more than one word (e.g., to get away, to look after, to put
off) are known as phrasal verbs. These are usually used in informal
circumstances, such as speaking or writing notes or emails. The single-word
versions (usually deriving from Latin) are more appropriate in formal writing.
Examples:
 We will get
together at 6.
We will
congregate at 1800 hrs.
(to congregate: Latinate version of 'to get together')
We've put
the meeting off until Tue.
The meeting
is postponed until Tuesday.
(to postpone: Latinate version of 'to put off')
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Common grammar errors
