get to know

[angliholic]

We didn't learn of/get to know/ find out his death until it was reported on TV news.
Which fits best here, learn of, get to know, or find out? Thanks.

[Noego]

get to know
find out The correct structure would've been: "to find out about his death."
learn of:

[angliholic]

Thanks, Noego.
That's the correct choice you picked, but why doesn't get to know works?

[Noego]

Originally Posted by angliholic

Thanks, Noego.
That's the correct choice you picked, but why doesn't get to know works?

Uhm... I had to stop for a minute and think about this one.

Here's an example:

-Are you going out with him?
-No, I thought I should get to know him first.

I also typed get to know in Google
and I found a few more examples for you:

"Vitamin features: get to know the facts"
"Get to know the XBox 360"

You see, get to know is used when learning is progressive. If you get to know your neighbor, you won't know everything about him the first day. As time goes by, you will know more and more things about him (you will get to know him).

In your example, you don't learn progressively about someone's death. There's no middle ground, you either find out or you don't.

If that's not clear, ask me more questions and I'll do my best to answer them.

[angliholic]

Thanks, Noego, for the crytal clear reply and kindness.