get hung up VS get tied up VS .....(a multiple choice question)
 

Hello

Would you please tell me which word(s) fit(s) best in the blank space?

Two Mount Holyoke College students had to be rescued after trapping themselves inside a dumbwaiter overnight.
The students ...... around 1:30 a.m. on Wednesday at Safford Hall.

1- got caught up 2- were stuck 3- got hung up 4- got tied up 5- were held up 6- got stuck

Thanks a lot

Re: get hung up VS get tied up VS .....(a multiple choice question)
 

As an American, the most difficult part of that sentence was figuring out that a dumbwaiter was a freight elevator!

I would prefer your last choice "got stuck" to describe the time that they became trapped.

Re: get hung up VS get tied up VS .....(a multiple choice question)
 

Same here, 6- got stuck

get is used to describe a change in state with 'be'. It's the instance of change.

I'm not stuck. _ _ _ I get stuck. _ _ _ I'm stuck.

I'm not married. _ _ _ I get married. _ _ _ I'm married.

I'm married. _ _ _ I get divorced. _ _ _ I'm divorced.

Re: get hung up VS get tied up VS .....(a multiple choice question)
 

sorry, I just reread the question and the problem isn't 'get' it's all the other options.

I can see why all the others don't fit but i need to formulate a decent response. brb (maybe tomorrow.)

Re: get hung up VS get tied up VS .....(a multiple choice question)
 

another quick stab at an explanation

get caught up
get hung up
get held up
get tied up

all sort of have the feeling of the last 'get tied up'. Someone or something has tied up your free time, interest, or you have litteraly become intertwined in something like a rope, meshing, machine or something.

In this case, they weren't physically intertwined in the dumbwaiter mechanism (possible but not probable.) Instead, they were trapped within or stuck and unable to move/get out.

'got caught' would be possible, but 'got caught up' has the meaning as stated above.

Does that make sense?

Re: get hung up VS get tied up VS .....(a multiple choice question)
 

Hello
Thank you Eric 18 and mesmark for your help.

messmark

I think either were stuck or got stuck make more sense.

Re: get hung up VS get tied up VS .....(a multiple choice question)
 

Sorry, I offered that last post as an explanation for why the others were not right. I thought you might have had questions about why the others were wrong.

The answer should be 6-got stuck

'were stuck' would work if the question involved a time span

The students were stuck for 3 hours on Wednesday at Safford Hall.

The students were stuck when fire fighters arrived on Wednesday at Safford Hall.

That deals with the time after they became stuck, and they were stuck.

But the question seems to imply that 1:30 was the time it happened. For that we use 'get' as described above. It marks the change in state from not stuck to stuck.

They got stuck at 1:30

Re: get hung up VS get tied up VS .....(a multiple choice question)
 

Thank you very much again for your informative answers.
They really helped me.