Please explain the difference...

Question

Please explain the difference...

thinker (Electrical)

(OP)

29 May 08 11:32

Please advise to a not native English speaker what is the difference (if any) between "to be involved" and "to get involved"

civilperson (Structural) · Answer 1 · 2008-05-29 11:35:00

"to get involved" has a future context, "to be involved" seems to be in the present.

rb1957 (Aerospace) · Answer 2 · 2008-05-29 11:36:45

i would say that "to get involved" is more active than "to be involved". "to be involved" imples that your involvement in (at least in part) due to someone else's action, maybe as part of a team. "to get involved" implies initating that action.

Gymmeh (Mechanical) · Answer 3 · 2008-05-29 12:01:56

thinker,

How are you using them in a sentence?

example:
I want to be involved in this project.
or
I want to get involved in this project.

In this case both are similar and would get your point across.

To me it sounds the best to say:
I want to be involved with this project.
because it sounds more assertive.

An similar example:
I want to be in Canada.
Compared to
I want to get into Canada.

The end result is being in Canada.

Best Regards

csd72 (Structural) · Answer 4 · 2008-05-29 12:27:47

They can be used interchangeably in some situations but in general.

To get involved - is the journey.
To be involved - is the destination.

Also as others have said, 'to be involved' implies that the choice has been made for you, whereas 'to get involved' implies an action on your part.

thinker (Electrical) · Answer 5 · 2008-05-29 12:45:28

Thank you for comments. How would you say the sentence
"I do not want to {be/get} involved in any illegal activities" ?

Gymmeh (Mechanical) · Answer 6 · 2008-05-29 12:53:18

Using your example:

You do not want to be involved in illegal activities!
If you get invalved in illegal activities, the police will be after you!

CoryPad (Materials) · Answer 7 · 2008-05-29 12:54:23

Either would work fine.

Regards,

Cory

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NKT (Structural) · Answer 8 · 2008-05-29 13:11:11

"be involved in" implies that the involvement is caused by the actions of others. This is a passive phrase.

I recommend alternate wording for "get involved". It is commonly used, but I think it is an inappropriate use of the word "get". I prefer to use "participate in", "contribute to", or "play a part in" (etc.) when I want to use an active phrase.

KENAT (Mechanical) · Answer 9 · 2008-05-29 13:41:46

thinker, while what NKT says may be more technically correct or whatever, given your 2 choices I agree with Gymmeh that "I do not want to be involved in any illegal activities" sounds a little better.

KENAT, probably the least qualified checker you'll ever meet...

btrueblood (Mechanical) · Answer 10 · 2008-05-29 13:42:20

I don't agree that "to be involved" implies that your involvement was involuntary, or caused by actions of others. More passive, yes. Could imply a desire to be involved, but that you have not yet figured out how/if/where/why etc.

Gymmeh (Mechanical) · Answer 11 · 2008-05-29 14:03:54

I always relate it to what happens in real life.

I am always trying to get people to get involved with stuff that I am involved in. I know a lot of people that say:

I will get involved in XXX.
This kind of statement I associate with...I am not going to do XXX

When someone says:
I will be involved with XXX.

its a pretty good indication that a person is going to do something.

If this is correct English, I am not sure. Is this what people say, compared to what really mean, IMO yes.

For people that think "be" is passive, I disagree with you as shown above, but I am really bad at English.

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