Get across means to communicate an idea so that the other person understands it. It's usually about an idea, a message or your position: get your point across. The second, literal meaning is to cross to the other side: get across the river.
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get + idea/message/point + across (to + someone); get across + what/how…; get across + river/road (= cross)
- Good charts help you get your message across in a short presentation.
- On the phone, I find it hard to get across what I really mean in English.
- The bridge was closed, so it took us an hour to get across the river.
What changed
First versionIn the presentation, I tried to get my main idea across the investors, but they looked confused.
RevisionIn the presentation, I tried to get my main idea across to the investors, but they looked confused.
In get across, across is a particle, not a preposition, so it can't take the listener as its object. Get my idea across the investors sounds as if the idea was carried over the investors themselves. The listener is introduced with to: get something across to someone.
Don't confuse it with come across. I got my point across means people understood what I meant. I came across as nervous means I seemed nervous: that was the impression I gave. The first is about whether people understood you, the second about how they saw you.
Your turn
The lecturer used simple examples to ___ the main idea to first-year students.
Show the answer
get across — The lecturer is explaining the main idea to students and wants them to understand it. That's get across, with the listeners introduced by to. Come across means 'to find by chance' or 'to give an impression', and it has no pattern for explaining an idea to someone.
Think of a time when it was hard to get your point across: at work, in class or in an argument. Write who you were trying to explain it to and what helped in the end.
I couldn't get my idea across to my manager until I drew a simple diagram on the whiteboard.
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