Name: Speaking English - "Dress up" or "Get dressed"?
Uploaded: 2024-04-20T21:01:10.000Z
Duration: 5 min 36 s
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Gerund

Hey guys. I'm Alex. Thanks for clicking, and welcome to this lesson on: "Dress up" or "Get dressed?"

To-infinitive

So these are two very common expressions that we use regularly in English to talk about putting on clothes.

Future simple

However, there is a slight difference in the usage, and we're going to look at that today.

So let's look at the top three sentences on the board, and see if you can tell me which expression I should use to complete them.

So the first one says: "It's your mom's 50th birthday! You should __________."

The second one says: "The bus leaves in 5 minutes! __________!"

Okay, if you're screaming and saying, "Wait, this one should be 'get dressed' and this one should be 'dress up'", ask yourself why are you saying that?

So first, before we actually do the answers, let's do the definitions.

So when you "dress up" for something - over here, we'll put it in the middle - you basically dress formally.

So if you're going to a wedding, you have to dress up; if you go to a nice restaurant you have to dress up.

Or you can put on a costume of some kind.

So those of you who maybe are comic book readers and if you have been to a comic book convention, people dress up at comic book conventions.

Now, the other one "get dressed" is much more general.

It just means to put on clothes in a general way.

So every morning, you know, you get dressed.

If you're going out somewhere, you have to get dressed; just put on clothes. Okay?

So now that we know this, let's look at the top three sentences and do them one more time.

So, "It's your mom's 50th birthday! You should 'get dressed' or 'dress up'", what do you think?

Well, your mom's 50th birthday is a special occasion, so I'm giving you the advice that you should probably dress up.

Wear nicer clothes. It's her 50th, you're going to a nice restaurant. Okay?

The second one: "The bus leaves in 5 minutes!"

So you're going to school or you're going to work and you just woke up, and you're still not ready; you're in your pajamas so you have to get dressed.

So this could be a mom yelling at her son or daughter, or a dad I suppose as well.

And finally: "Do you __________ for Halloween?"

Again, Halloween is a holiday where you... Well, not really a holiday; people have to work.

But it's a fun day in October where people wear costumes.

So "Do you dress up for Halloween?" Okay?

Now, again, we wouldn't say, "Do you get dressed for Halloween?" That just means like, "Do you wear clothes at all?" or "Do you go naked for Halloween?"

So two very different meanings. Right? Okay, so now that we... I think we have the basic meaning of these two expressions, let's look at three more to perfect it.

So imagine, you're going to a restaurant and some restaurants have dress codes; you're not allowed to just go in jeans and a t-shirt.

You have to wear either a suit or nice pants or a belt.

So "There's a dress code. You have to dress up."

Today, zombies are very popular, at least at the time of this video.

Maybe 10 years from now when you're looking at this, maybe... I don't know, what could be popular? Police officers? I have no idea.

So imagine there is a costume party and it's a zombie-themed party; the theme is zombies.

So "Everyone is____", everyone is doing what?

"Everyone is dressing up." Everyone is going to dress up. So you can say: "Everyone is going to dress up."

Or "Everyone is dressing up for the party." They're putting on zombie costumes, zombie makeup.

Finally, "In the morning, I __________ after I brush my teeth."

So after you brush your teeth, generally you put on clothes in the morning. Right?

So I hope I have cleared up this... These two very common expressions for you guys.

So one more time: "get dressed", very general, put on your clothes. Usually we're talking about when you get up in the morning or before you leave the house, you have to get dressed.

"Dress up", if it's a formal occasion, if you're putting on a costume of some kind for a party or a special occasion.

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Speaking English - "Dress up" or "Get dressed"?

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