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You'll never guess who they got to replace you at work.

The sentence above is from the dialogue in the series The Big Bang Theory. I can guess the meaning is that you will never guess who will work instead of you. But I want to know what's the meaning of 'got to'. And what does 'they' indicate?

I think the following sentence is correct grammatically.

You'll never guess who will replace you at work.

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There are two possibilities:

  • Get here is probably used in the sense "obtain", equivalent to "hire" or "engage". If that is the case, to replace you is an infinitival of purpose: it says why who was hired, as your replacement. They is the subject of replace.

  • It is also possible that get is used in the sense "induce" or "persuade". If that is the case, then to replace you designates the action which who was induced to undertake. Who (more precisely, the missing value which the variable who points to) is the subject of replace.

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  • Thank you for your meticulous answer. I fully understood the sentence i asked. "You'll never guess / who they got / to replace you / at work." Actually i saw 'got to' as a one chunk before. Thanks.
    – Danny_Kim
    Commented Aug 19, 2015 at 18:12
  • @Danny_Kim Yes, your understanding was correct; you just didn't see how you got there! :)
    – StoneyB on hiatus
    Commented Aug 19, 2015 at 18:52
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'they' is, I suspect, 'the powers that be'.

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