marry / get married: what’s the difference?

Although there are exceptions it is generally better to use marry with an object i.e.,  marry somebody. For example:

▪ He married his college sweetheart.
▪ I want to marry a doctor or a lawyer
▪ I asked her to marry me.
▪ “Will you marry me?”

When there is no object, then use get married. For example:

▪ We got married on a beach in Thailand.
▪ I never want to get married.
▪ My parents got married because my mum was pregnant.
▪ We got married 30 years ago today.

Here are some exceptions:

He hopes to marry soon. // She married young. // They married for love, not money.

But if you stick to the above guideline you won’t go far wrong and you will sound more like a native speaker.

About Robert D. E. Senior

Fully qualified and experienced Professional English teacher / trainer UK native speaker BA (hons, first class) Linguistics and TEFL 15 years experience in UK, Spain and Austria FCE - CAE - CPE - BEC V - BEC H - TOEFL - IELTS Business, Academic and General English
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