phrasal verb · neutral

get through to someone

UK/ɡet θruː tuː ˈsʌmwʌn/US/ɡet θruː tu ˈsʌmˌwʌn/get·THROUGH·to·some·ONE

speakingtask2

to succeed in making someone understand or accept what you say

Examples

“I tried to explain the safety rules, but I couldn't get through to them.”

“It took a lot of examples to get through to the students.”

“She finally got through to the manager about the problem.”

Band 8 sentence

“After repeating the key points with concrete examples, she finally got through to the skeptical committee.”

Collocations

  • get through to someone about/that
  • struggle to get through to someone

Word family

get through to (someone) phrasal verb

Common mistakes

I couldn't get through him.→I couldn't get through to him.

I get through to them yesterday.→I got through to them yesterday.

Say it for a higher band

5explain→6make someone understand→7+get through to someone

Synonyms

make someone understand

Easily confused

reach (someone)

“I tried to reach the editor by phone but couldn't get through.”

Related words

break the icesmall talkspeak one's mindhold one's tongueread the roomget straight to the pointget the message acrossspill the beans

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