to get into trouble
200
2.6
- phrasal verb
:
meterse en problemas
- If you keep lying to your parents, you will get into trouble eventually.
- get into financial trouble
- never get into trouble
- ways to get into trouble
Why did we get into this trouble in the country?
- Why did we get into this trouble in the country?
- He's this dark, dangerous Vagabond character, getting into trouble, getting into fights.
- And I think she's too young to get into trouble now, but it's going to happen.
- So he says in his book, I didn't want to get into trouble, right?
- And yeah, how did you not get into trouble with the Internet?
- But if you do this, you'll get into trouble.
- But, you know, often the clients would get into trouble with the law.
- OK, Pride can get you into more trouble.
Examples
-
I was always getting into trouble when I was your age.
-
So what happened was is I got into some trouble in school.
-
And if I got into trouble, no one could reach me.
-
So you see, I get into a lot of trouble in many ways.
-
But, you know, often the clients would get into trouble with the law.
-
I think I started getting into trouble when I was perhaps nine years of age.
-
Then those decisions can get us into more trouble than we need to.
-
Mathematics was not his favorite subject, and he seemed to get into trouble more often in that class.
Academic text (2014) -
His interest in human variation has also gotten him into deep trouble.
Academic text (2006) -
That's the kind of thinking, though, that usually gets me into trouble.
Synonyms
274
2.6
Experience a problem or difficulty unexpectedly
203
2.7
Face blame or punishment for something you did wrong
23
7.9
To get into trouble with rules or people in charge
1
4.8
To end up in a difficult situation because of your choices
To have unexpected problems because of your own mistake
How Serious
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'to experience difficulties' is directly derivable from combining 'get' (to become/enter), 'into' (indicating change into a state), and 'trouble' (difficulty). This compositional pattern is common in English and mirrored in many languages, so a B1 learner who knows the constituent words would readily infer the MWE's meaning.
Etymology
Get into trouble comes from the simple picture of someone who gets or moves into a place called trouble, as if they stepped into a room full of problems. So to get into trouble today means to move into 'difficulties' or 'problems', often because of what you did.