Marry and divorce

We usually use marry and divorce with an object:

• Lauren Bacall married her co-star, Humphrey Bogart*, in 1945 and made three more movies with him.*
• He always needed more money, and at 77 he married a wealthy widow*, but she* divorced him a year later.

However, in formal styles we use them without an object:

• The couple married three years ago and have a daughter, Molly.

In informal language we use get married and get divorced when there is no object:

• Paul and Katia are getting married in New Zealand.
• She finally got divorced last year.

We use be married and be divorced to describe the state of being married or divorced:

• They*’re divorced** now.*
• We’ve been married for 50 years.

We don’t use to or with after marry:

• She married someone she met at college.
• Not: She married to someone … or She married with someone …

We use to, not with, after get married + direct object and be married + direct object:

• She got married to someone she met at college.
• She’s married to someone she met at college.
• Not: She got married with someone … or She’s married with someone …

We use from with get divorced and (less commonly) with be divorced:

• She got divorced from her second husband.
• She is divorced from her second husband.
• She divorced her second husband.