Why is "to get" sometimes used where "to be" could be used?

Question

Why is "to get" sometimes used where "to be" could be used? Is this usage grammatical?
Examples:

The video got uploaded to the web site.
The video was uploaded to the web site.
He got thrown in the pool.
He was thrown in the pool.
We got caught!
We were caught!

nohat · Accepted Answer

You can use forms of get instead of forms of be as an alternative way to formulate the passive voice. Passive voice clauses constructed with get are less formal than those formed with be, but otherwise have the same meaning.

However, you can’t use get for stative uses of the passive voice, where the passive indicates the result of an action. You can only use it for eventive passives, where the passive indicates an action. Here are examples of the stative passives where get is not grammatical:

100 votes are required to pass the bill
   * 100 votes get required to pass the bill
  
     He was rumored to be a war veteran.
   * He got rumored to be a war veteran
  
     The plums were intended for breakfast.
   * The plums got intended for breakfast.
  
     A vacuum is abhorred by nature.
   * A vacuum gets abhorred by nature.

Michael Scott Shappe · Answer

The usage is correct, if not always formal. Using "to get" puts a more active spin on the result. While the use of "to be" creates a passive-voice construction, the use of "to get" creates an active-voice construction with an implied subject -- that is, it emphasizes that someone specifically caused the action, rather than that it just happened on its own somehow.

Answered by Michael Scott Shappe on September 2, 2021

JSBձոգչ · Answer

This usage is correct, but informal. It is freely used (and extremely common) in less formal kinds of writing and speaking, but is avoided in the most formal forms of writing. As for "why", I don't think there is any explanation other than the fact that get + is slowly displacing be + for the passive construction.

pkaeding · Answer

Both forms (i.e. be and get forms followed by past participle) are grammatically correct.

The video got uploaded to the website
  [by a user].

is passive voice.

In a sentence using active voice, the
  subject of the sentence performs the
  action expressed in the verb.
  (source)

So, in this case, the subject of the sentence, "the video", wasn't the thing performing the action.  The unnamed user (or whomever performed the action) did.

Why is "to get" sometimes used where "to be" could be used?

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