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to get on

to get on

37 1.0
Climb onto a horse or bike
  • phrasal verb
  • /ɡɛt ɑn/
translation icon : montar
  • He carefully gets on the bicycle to ride down the hill.
  • get on a horse
  • get on a bike
  • get on someone's back

And one of the brothers had got on top of Caesar.

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Examples

  • The only thing left was to actually get on my bike and ride it to work.

    Blog text (23)
  • And then I would get on one and ride it around.

  • I wanted to get on a bus and find her.

    Fiction book (2001)
  • We could sit here and chat, or you could get on the horse.

  • And now I'm about to get on the jet Ski with Ruby.

  • Narrator 2: Atreyu gets on a horse and sets out for the Childlike Empress's tower.

    Fiction book (2001)
  • She decided to get on the horse for her first riding lesson.

  • As soon as he gets on the jet ski, he zooms across the water.

Synonyms

to hop on
vsto get on
  • Informal
53 2.7

To get onto something like a horse, bike, or bus quickly and lightly

is the neutral phrase for the action without stressing speed or lightness
to mount
vsto get on
49 3.0

To get on an animal or bike to ride

is the everyday phrase for doing that action casually
to climb on
vsto get on
19 2.0

To get up onto the back or top of something, especially an animal

is mainly used when the action is for riding rather than general climbing
to jump on
vsto get on
13 1.8

To get quickly onto the back of something like a horse or bike

is the calmer, general action without sudden or forceful motion
to mount up
vsto get on
7 4.0

To get onto the back of an animal like a horse to ride it

is used more generally for the same action across different things
to bestride
vsto get on
1 8.8

To sit or stand with a leg on each side of something like a horse

is the simple action of moving onto a back without straddling

Antonyms

170 2.5

To leave a vehicle or animal by stepping down

21 4.5

To get off a horse, bicycle, or vehicle

How High

to climb on
19 2.0
to get on
37 1.0
to step on
95 1.0

Surface Forms

get on infinitive
getting on present participle
gets on third person singular
got on past
got on past participle

Morphology

get + on

The meaning 'to board' is directly compositional from 'get' (to move/arrive/enter) plus the locative/onto sense of 'on', so a learner who knows both words can infer entering or boarding a vehicle. This verb+particle pattern is frequent in English and has clear parallels in other languages, making it readily understandable at B1.

Etymology

Get on (to climb or mount onto something) is very literal: you get on a horse, bike, or ladder by stepping up and putting yourself on it. That's why it means 'to climb onto' or 'mount'.