Get through means to survive a difficult period or cope with something hard. It can also mean to reach someone by phone (get through to someone). In the first meaning, it suggests that the hard time is behind you or that you will manage until it ends.
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get through + difficult period/task; get through to + person (by phone); got through (past)
- Regular walks with friends helped me get through a very stressful winter.
- Our team got through a difficult year without losing a single client.
- If you can't get through to the hotel, send them an email instead.
What changed
First versionLast year I passed through a really difficult period at work.
RevisionLast year I got through a really difficult period at work.
Pass through can look right for a hard period, but it is usually about a place you travel through: We passed through Milan on the way to Rome. For a difficult time that you managed to survive, the natural choice is get through, so passed was replaced with got.
Go through and get through are easy to mix up. Go through means to experience difficulties, to be in the middle of them: He's going through a hard time. Get through adds that the person coped and the hard time is over: He got through it and found a new job.
Your turn
I called the airline six times before I finally got through ___ a real person.
Show the answer
to — Reaching someone by phone is get through to someone, so you need to. With might seem possible, but get through with means to finish something (get through with the paperwork) and doesn't describe a phone call.
Think of a difficult period at work or in your studies. Write how you got through it, and name a person or thing that helped.
I got through my first term at university mainly because my roommate explained every statistics lecture to me.
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