Get dressed! = Get ready! - Dress! = Put your clothes on!

P

P&B

Senior Member
Hungarian
Hi,
I have read through quite a few sites where people argue that "dress" and "get dressed" can basically used interchangeably, yet the imperative is not mentioned.
I assume that in this case "Dress!" is not acceptable:
"We're gonna be late, so get dressed!"
I feel "...so dress!" would imply that the action of "putting clothes on" is important, so it is wrong, because I want him / her to be ready, to "be dressed".
Similarly:
"My brother is a slowcoach / slowpoke. He never gets dressed till nine o'clock." means he does not get ready before nine. Here "He never dresses till nine o'clock." would mean something like he dresses before or after nine or that he does not start the process of putting on clothes before nine. "He never dresses before nine." would still be a bit different because it again would focus on the action of putting clothes on and not on the state that he is ready to start the day.
Am I right here?
Thanks for your help!
 
    • In all your examples you are talking about someone "getting dressed".

    Edit: I would always use the imperative to tell someone to "get dressed" or "Put your clothes on".

    In everyday speech I also talk about "getting dressed". If I wanted to sound a little less casual, I would use "dress, i.e "He rose at ten, dressed in haste and called for a cab."

    He dresses well - He wears expensive clothes/he wears clothes that look very good on him.
    Ladies and gentlemen used to dress for dinner - They used to put on formal clothes.
     
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    velisarius said:
    In all your examples you are talking about someone "getting dressed".

    He dresses well - He wears expensive clothes/he wears clothes that look very good on him.
    Ladies and gentlemen used to dress for dinner - They used to put on formal clothes.

    Difference between wear/dress/get dressed/put on
    dress/ get dressed
    "get dressed" = "to dress"
    Get dressed or dress up
    Get her dressed or dress her
    Click to expand...
    What you are stating is true - yet you did not answer my question. All the sites I've read (some ten) say that "dress" and "get dressed" can be used interchangeably. Still these cases are - in my opinion - different. Here they are not interchangeable. My question was whether I was right with these examples or not.
     
    To "dress" is a more formal usage. To "get dressed" is a more ordinary, everyday usage. I wouldn't say to my kids, "dress now." I'd say "get dressed!"
     
    "Get dressed!" is the only thing I would say in the imperative.

    Also, it doesn't generally mean "Put your clothes on" as if you were standing there naked. It normally means "Put the appropriate clothes on for the activity we are about to do." If you are wearing jeans and you are about to go to a formal dinner then "Get dressed!" means, "Put on your suit".
     
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