get the hang of
/ˌɡet ðə ˈhæŋ əv/INFORMAL · C2
Meaning
to learn how to do something that is not simple at first
Examples
- 1Driving a manual car was tricky at first, but I soon got the hang of it.
- 2Don't worry about the new booking system; you'll get the hang of it within a week.
- 3Knitting looked impossible, but after a few evenings Maria had got the hang of it and finished a scarf.
- 4Is Tom getting the hang of his new job, or is he still asking for help every hour?
- 5The first salsa classes were a disaster, but once Priya got the hang of the steps, she loved them.
Grammar
Only get changes: gets, getting, got. The perfect is have got the hang of in British English. A noun, a pronoun or an -ing form follows of.
Similar in meaning
More idioms about education
All 20 idioms and the topic quiz →it's not rocket scienceit is easy to understand or dotrial and errortrying different methods and learning from what goes wrongthe penny dropssomeone finally understands something after a whilea crash coursea short period of lessons that teaches a lot very quicklyrack your brainsto think very hard to remember or solve somethinggo over your headto be too difficult for you to understand
English Idioms400 idioms in 20 topics — with reviews that keep them from fading
Here you get a couple of questions. The app gives you 16 practice modes, native equivalents and spaced repetition that tells you when it’s time to refresh.
