[Vocabulary] to get to do something= to have a chance

[andrewg927]

When I thought I got the difference in meaning of sentences with get to, I realized that I'm a bit confused again about what the teacher meant. As far as I understand it now, he meant 'It's your destiny'. Am I right? Or did he mean a stronger degree of 'have to'?

No. It's a positive take on doing homework or whatever the student do not want to do. It is sarcastic.

 

[andrewg927]

Thanks, but I'm still puzzled. Could you say, in what communicative situation can I say "I get to watch TV', why I should say it instead of "I'm going to watch TV" or "I'll go and watch TV"? Or what is a synonymous sentence?

I can imagine some kind of things I can get to do, but I can't understand the reason of using it. It's not "I can..."? it's not "I like", it's not "I'm going to..", it's not "I will..." it sounds like a phrasal verb I I haven't heard before. What's the closest in meaning sentence to "I get to watch TV"?

You can certainly say "I'm going to watch TV" but the meaning is different. "I get to watch TV" means "I have the opportunity to watch TV." Life is busy and you don't always get the chance to do so.

 

[englishhobby]

So get to is positive and has a close connection with the words like chance and good luck, right?

 

[andrewg927]

It is positive unless it is used with "don't" "doesn't", etc.

 

[emsr2d2]

There's a tennis club near me so I get to play tennis every week but for some reason I never get to play with the coach.

(First half = positive; second half = negative.)