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by rhizome 5133 days ago
"Get" in its present-tense for is very difficult to use to start a sentence. It sounds highly idiomatic ("wrong") not to precede it with either a subject ("I get six floppies for a dollar at the thrift store."), or to recede to the infinitive ("To get six floppies for a dollar is a very good deal."). Using a gerund makes it easier, but then you're not dealing with the plain "get" anymore.
1 comments
CodeMage 5133 days ago
Get real! ;)

I can just imagine promotional tweets gone wrong, e.g.:

"Get your tickets to Blind Guardian concert! Only 500 left!"

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jaredsohn 5133 days ago
Fortunately, this wouldn't be a problem since there are more than two words
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rhizome 5133 days ago
The second is definitely not a sentence, and the first is idiomatic with it's implied subject. :)
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stan_rogers 5133 days ago
The second person imperative always implies the subject (at least since we stopped saying thee, and even then the subject and verb were inverted, as it remains in the first person plural imperative). The first sentence in the second example is a complete sentence; only the second is a fragment.

If you see an imperative "get" with an apparent subject, it's probably a topic rather than a subject:

"Paul, get your boots on and get going!"

You are speaking to Paul:

"Get your boots on and get going!"

You use the topic to designate or call attention; it's not the subject of the sentence.

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