Hello.
Is the sentence below grammatically correct?
How did you get into this work?
Can it mean "How did you get into this job"?
ReegisIs the sentence below grammatically correct?
How did you get into this work?
Yes. It's correct.
ReegisCan it mean "How did you getintothis job"?
Not usually.
First of all, it's "How did you get this job?" (No 'into'.)
If you ask the question about the job, you want to know where the other person heard about the job, how he applied for the position, and that whole process of getting hired.
And then 'to get into this work' means 'to get into this kind of work'.
If you ask the question about the work, you want to know what life events led the other person to become interested in doing that sort of work. Did one of the parents do similar work? Did a teacher or friend somewhere along the line suggest that this kind of work would be a good match for this person? And so on.
CJ
Comments
Thanks CJ for your anwer. Everything almost clear now
Do you mean that the version with 'into' is not correct or just has a different meaning? Can it mean something similar to 'into work'?
I am asking because I googled this sentence (in quotes) and got quite a lot of results, many of them looks like created by native speakers. For example:
https://www.ucl.ac.uk/careers/sites/careers/files/information_interviewing_qs.pdf
After looking at that link, I have to say that it certainly looks like some people are using "into" in that context. I would not have written it that way. Nevertheless, the meaning is the same as for the meaning of "How did you get this job?" which I explained in my previous post. So no, it's not wrong, and it doesn't have a different meaning.
See the frequency graph that compares the usage at the link below.
https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=get+this+job%2Cget+into+this+job&year_start=1800&year_end=2019&corpus=en-2019&smoothing=3
CJ
I see, thanks!
So, to sum up, we have two kinds of sentences:
1) How did you get this job? and How did you get into this job?
Both of them corrrect, both speaking about application for a specific position. The first one being way more popular. The second one perhaps not used in California.
2) How did you get into this work?
This one speaks about kind/line/field of work rather than a specific job. And, how you explained, speaking about the life events that led the other person to become interested in doing that sort of work.
Thank you again
It has nothing to do with California. The frequency graph shows the trend for all published books that Google has in its database, and that's a lot of books.
Other than that, your summary is exactly right.
CJ
Well, instead of the graph I was referring to After looking at that link, I have to say that it certainly looks like some people are using "into" in that context. I would not have written it that way.
I assumed that if you don't use it, then it is not popular where you live. But perhaps this extrapolation from you to the whole state was too hasty.
Anyway, I just meant that it is important information for me that you wouldn't use this phrase. Now, after more careful thought, I would put my takeaway from this conversation for future use this way:
- Passively, good to know the meaning of this sentence when I hear it next time.
- Actively, I will go for the version without 'into'.
I hope now my intentions are clear
Sorry for this confusion.
I'm living here now, but I've lived in various other places within the United States at various times, so I can't promise that my word choices are always exactly what Californians find popular.
Yes. All is well. Not to worry.
CJ