Phrasal verbs 'get on to' and 'get through to'

[Mark Skype Teacher]

Good afternoon,

I have a bit of confusion concerning 2 phrasal verbs which came up in class.

Can you get on to the suppliers?

Have you got through to the suppliers?

1. I believe one meaning of 'get on to' means 'to contact' (also start a different subject e.g. 'let's get on to the purchasing issue'.

2. I believe 'get through to' means 'the ability to make contact or whether contact was established or not'.

For 2 word reference says '(intr, adverb) to contact, as by telephone' but I think it may be a bit different as in it has more of an emphasis of 'the establishment of contact'.

Any comments much appreciated. Thanks for your time!

[Sarah676]

You are correct that in this case, both "get on to" and "get through to" mean "to contact, as by telephone". The only difference between the two dentences is that the first sentence is asking "Are you able to contact the suppliers (in the present)?", whereas the second sentence is asking "Were you able to contact the suppliers (in the past)?"

[Mark Skype Teacher]

Hi thanks Sarah for your valuable comments,

If someone asks me 'Can you get on to the suppliers?' rather than or in addition to talking about whether I have the ability to contact the suppliers, the sense, at least in British English, I think would be (also) someone asking me to contact the suppliers, a boss for example.

Have a nice day.

[Mizali]

Sarah is correct, but I think it might be useful for someone who is learning English to mention that as a native speaker from the United States I've never actually heard anyone use a phrase 'Can you get on to the suppliers'.

It might be more common in other areas, but if you used it with Americans I think a lot of them wouldn't be familiar with it.

[LauraM]

Sarah is correct, but I think it might be useful for someone who is learning English to mention that as a native speaker from the United States I've never actually heard anyone use a phrase 'Can you get on to the suppliers'.

It might be more common in other areas, but if you used it with Americans I think a lot of them wouldn't be familiar with it.

I agree.  I'm also in the U.S. and I've never heard anyone here use that expression " get on to" although I have heard people from the UK use it.

Can you get on to the suppliers?

Have you got through to the suppliers?

1. I believe one meaning of 'get on to' means 'to contact' (also start a different subject e.g. 'let's get on to the purchasing issue'.

2. I believe 'get through to' means 'the ability to make contact or whether contact was established or not'.

Just a point of clarification.  The past tense would usually be "Did you get through to the suppliers?"

Or alternatively "Have you gotten through to the suppliers?"

This is how people in the U.S. would use it. 

[ddrmario123]

I think you might have to actually look at the entire sentence structure to understand the meaning more clearly. It might help you out more than just knowing the difference between "get on to" and "get through to."

Can you get on to the suppliers?

The usage of the word "can" usually implies a question about permission or the asking of a favor. For example "Can I go out tomorrow?" would be the permission type or "Can you get me that apple?" would be the asking of a favor type. So in your case, it would be asking for a favor and that favor is contacting the suppliers.

Have you got through to the suppliers?

The usage of the word "have" implies a question about whether the action has been performed or not. For example "Have you done the dishes yet?" or "Have I gone too far?" In your case, it would be asking if you contacted the suppliers yet.

I hope this helps a bit more  .