Get dressed up

Question

Hi Englishpros,

I get dressed up.

1. Is it passive? (i.e. Someone dresses the clothing for me.)

2. Or, dressed is a participal adjective which modifies the subject I.

3. Is 'dress up' a phrasal verb, in other words, 'dress' and 'up' are insperable?

4. Can I say "I dressed up" instead?

Thanks,

Paco2004 · Accepted Answer

Hello

1. Is it passive? (i.e. Someone dresses the clothing for me.)
2. Or, dressed is a participal adjective which modifies the subject I.

I take this kind of construct as "get-passive".
Get passives emphasize the change of a state rather than the state itself (i.e. be-passives).
"She got dressed up" means someone or she herself put clothes on her to make her better.
"She was dressed up" can mean also she was putting on smart clothes.
If you like to know more about 'get-passives', visit [url=""]here[/url].

3. Is 'dress up' a phrasal verb, in other words, 'dress' and 'up' are inseparable?

Yes. It is a separable phrasal verb. I dressed up my sister. I dressed her up.

4. Can I say "I dressed up" instead?

Yes. "Dress up" can be also an intransitive phrasal verb.
"They dressed up" means either "they got dressed up" or "they were in good dresses".

paco

Just the truth · Answer

If you like to know more about 'get-passives', visit here.

<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

Great reply, Paco. I have some comments I'd like to add later after a bit more cogitating but right now, I'd like to know how you attach a link to one word, as you did [OR as you've done] with the word "here".

Obviously, it doesn't matter what the word(s) is, but I like it 'cause it's less clunky than copying & pasting a long URL.

Meantolearn · Answer

Hi paco or other Englishpros,

Thank you so much for providing me such a wonderful Website for learning 'get-passive.' How did you find it? And your detailed answers as well. I'd like to add in something. Free feel to write me again.

I wouldn’t call ‘get dressed up’ get-passive. But I would call ‘I got hit.’ get-passive.

When we are talking about passive. The receiver becomes the subject and the doer becomes the object of a preposition following the pattern ‘be/get + P.P.’ (i.e. receiver + be/get p.p. + prep. + doer). Most of the time, ‘prep. + doer’ is omitted. But it doesn’t mean the doer doesn’t exist. For instance, I got hit. I is the receiver. What is the doer? Well, maybe a car or a truck or even a bull. But it got to have something.

And in your conclusion, ‘They dressed up’ and ‘They got dressed up’ pretty much mean the same thing. ‘They’ is the only doer. There’s no receiver here. And it is active not passive. So, I wouldn’t call ‘get dressed up’ passive.

You can say, ‘I dressed up my sister’ or ‘I dressed my sister up’ or ‘I dressed her up.’ Don’t say, ‘I dressed up her.’

But there’s something confusing here. How do you say ‘I dressed up my sister’ in passive? ‘My sister got dressed up (by me).’ If ‘by me’ is omitted, then ‘My sister got dressed up’ would be its passive. And the Website suggests that someone should get dressed up meaning they should do it themselves. So, there is no way to tell 'my sister got dressed up' whether it means my sister dressed herself up or with someone’s help. As you mentioned in your reply: "She got dressed up" means someone or she herself put clothes on her to make her better.

Do you understand the confusion here?

We need to ask native English speakers see how they deal with it.

Thanks,

Paco2004 · Answer

Hello JTT

Thank you for your compliment. I am waiting your posting about get passives.

Hello ML

I read Oxford English Dictionary to know the historical development of "dress up".

The word "dress" came into English through Old French, and originally it was used in sense of "to erect/raise something upright" or "to make something straight".
(EX-1) "He dressed his back unto the mast" [14th century].
(EX-2) "Trolius dressed him upwards"[Chaucer].
In those old days the verb was used always in transitive sense and when it was used in an intransitive sense, it took a form either passive or reflexive. The first use of "dress" in sense of "to clothe" appeared in 15th century.
(EX-3) "Dress us in rich array"[1440].
(EX-4) "Let us dress ourselves to go forth the journey of life"[1531]
The use of "dress up" as an intransitive began only in late 19th century
(EX-5) "I ain't going to dress up for nothing"[Alcott 1870]

So I guess the transitive "dress (somebody) up" is more "orthodox" than the intransitive "dress up".
And it may be the reason why people prefer to use "get dressed up" instead of the intransitive "dress up".

As to your opinion saying "get dressed up" is not a get passive, I can't agree to it. It is usual to leave out the agentive by-phrase in get-passive constructs even in the case the writer knows the agent,

paco

Meantolearn · Answer

Hi paco or other Englishpros,

I've found some interesting points after a little research.

'Someone gets dressed' probably can be called 'get-passive'
The reasons are:

You may say 'I got dressed' or 'I got dressed by myself'. So, you may say the 'by-phrase', by myself, is left out and concludes that it is passive. (Most people will say 'I got dressed' instead of 'I got dressed by myself', but 'I got dressed by myself' is still acceptable.)

However, 'Someone gets dressed up' behaviors quite differently.
The only way to say it is "I got dressed up." DON'T SAY: "I got dressed up by myself."
('I got dressed up by myself' is not acceptable) So, it's not whether you'd like to keep 'by- phrase' or not. In other words, it's not the speakers' preference. If you add the 'by-phrase' in, then it becomes improper.

So I've come to the conclusion that 'Someone gets dressed up' is not 'get-passive'. At least I wouldn't call it 'get-passive'.

'Dress up' is a phrasal verb but separable and it is transitive. For instance, I dressed my sister up. My sister is the object of 'dressed up'. But 'dressed up' is separable because 'my sister' comes between dressed and up. And it is OK to say it in passive voice. 'My sister got dressed up by me' is acceptable. Why? Because the doer/agent and the receiver are two different people.

adios

Paco2004 · Answer

Hello ML

I'm afraid you misunderstood me. I have never said that it is possible to say "I got dressed up by myself". Both "I got dressed up by myself" and "My sister got dressed up by me" are not acceptable as English. We should never add an agentive by-phrase to a get passive even in the case we know the agent. For example, we never say "The gang got shot by a policeman" even if we know the gang was shot by a policeman. A get passive construct is an expression to emphasize what a change of state happens/happened to the subject no matter who or what brings/brought the change. So you should not add an agentive by-phrase to a get passive construct. [Please note that "I got hit by a car" is possible. Here "by a car" is used as an instrumental by-phrase.]

paco

Just the truth · Answer

Hi Paco,

Did you miss this?

"... right now, I'd like to know how you attach a link to one word, as you did [OR as you've done] with the word "here".

Obviously, it doesn't matter what the word(s) is, but I like it 'cause it's less clunky than copying & pasting a long URL."

Paco2004 · Answer

Hello JTT

I'm sorry I forget to answer you about that.

You can write like 'Visit [a href="URL"] here [/a]'. (Actually you have to write "<..>" instead of "[..]")
Then you'd get what you want.

paco

Just the truth · Answer

Sorry, Paco but you've lost me. I'm dumber than a sack of hoe handles. Please show me step by step, if you would.

Meantolearn · Answer

Hi amigo,

Never say never.

You wrote:
we never say "The gang got shot by a policeman" even if we know the gang was shot by a policeman.

Here are some exceptions: i.e. Someone got shot by a policeman.

She got shot by a policeman after seeing that she was suffering after she was hit
by a car she got thrown into a freezer, because they thought she was dead.

In 1927, while the 4 boys were looting a store, Herman got shot by a policeman.
Pa Barker finally had the guts to walk out on the bunch.

In the end, their lives change forever and realize what drug can do to them. In
the end of this mini lakorn, Captain got shot by a policeman and died.

One really bad example from Gothenburg is about Hannes Westberg who got shot by a policeman shooting strait out in the crowd of people.
____________________________________________________

You wrote: 'My sister got dressed up by me' is not acceptable as English.

Here are some exceptions: i.e. Someone got dressed up by someone else.

So yeah this morning was great, all the freshmen got
dressed up by the seniors and it was just funny.

Of all the nights that I have had to have my first allergic
reaction. I then got dressed up by my roommate.

She got dressed up by a little child
who got hold of baby clothes...poor Jinni!!

My teammate Rocky got dressed up
by the family in traditional clothes

Can you believe that freshman Marlon ate 19 bananas, winning the banana eating
contest and Irvin got dressed up by his classmates like a baby.

And if anyone argues that people who get dressed up by wardrobe designers to
be punks arent posers, than you will die in 21 minutes and 43 seconds

So many boys get dressed up by their sisters as a nasty trick; sweet to see
it happen as a gesture of love.

He was also the soppiest creature going and used to get dressed up by my niece.

That's how I get dressed up by my folks sometimes. Honestly, I think I look slightly funny.

My dogs get dressed up by my nieces all the time. They are fine. It makes them be better dogs.
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But I could hardly find one example such as someone gets dressed up by themselves. i.e. the Doer/Agent and the receiver are the same.

Can you find some?

adios

Get dressed up

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