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

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

"Get dressed?" So these are two very common expressions that we use regularly in English

to talk about putting on clothes. 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! __________!" "Do you __________ for Halloween?"

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. Okay? 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.

First: "There's a dress code."

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 either wear a suit or nice pants

or a belt. So: "There's a dress code. You have to dress up." Okay.

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 you

get dressed. That's it. 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.

So if you'd like to test your understanding of these two expressions, make sure you have

them perfectly, you can check out the quiz on www.engvid.com. And don't forget to subscribe

to my YouTube channel. See ya guys.