Literally, to get off the ground means “to leave the ground” – “to take off”, “to take flight”. But this expression is mainly used figuratively. Do you know when we say that a project “hasn’t taken off yet” or that an idea “never caught on”? It is precisely this type of situation that get off the ground applies to.
As you can see, the meaning of get off the ground is basically “to succeed” or “to start to succeed”.
The examples below will help you better understand how to use get off the ground . Remember that these are not only for practice and illustration, but also great review material for your Anki !
There’d have to be a
public inquiry before the project got off the ground .
Most scientists have a lot more trouble getting their projects off the ground .
A lot more money will be required to get this
project off the ground .
We
‘re still trying to get this project off the ground .
He
and his friend tried to start a band but it never got off the ground .
Her show never really got off the ground in the UK.
The project never really got off the ground .
Because of
legal difficulties, the construction project never got off the ground .
Jack just wants to wait until the company gets off the ground a bit before we begin any major media campaigns.
When we get this event off the ground we can relax.
Without
funding, the project will never get off the ground .
“To engage”, “to take off”, “to catch”… there are many translations. The important thing, as always, is to understand the essential idea – in this case, something that “starts to be successful”, that “catches on”.
Did you like the post ? Tell us in the comments! If you didn’t like it… don’t say anything, we need to keep the moral high ground