Phrasal verbs · Free lesson
Dress up for an event: wear more formal clothes
An invitation arrives, and you want to ask about clothes. Dress up gives you a useful way to discuss formality without guessing the exact outfit.
Professor Scott MendozaMeaning in this lesson
dress up
Wear clothes that are more formal than your usual clothes.
Example
“We dressed up for the ceremony.”
We wore more formal clothes for that ceremony.
The short answer
Dress up can mean wear more formal clothes. Add for to name the occasion: We dressed up for the ceremony. Here, dress is a verb, not the name of one particular garment.
Use for to connect the clothing choice to the occasion.
We dressed up for the ceremony tells us why we chose more formal clothes. Do we need to dress up? asks whether that formality is needed. It does not ask whether people need to put any clothes on: get dressed is the ordinary expression for that action.
Compare the examples
We dressed up for the ceremony.
Do we need to dress up?
I got dressed after breakfast.
For the ceremony names the occasion. As a pirate names a costume role: dressed up as a pirate is a different sense.
Build the meaning step by step
Choose the past form
We dressed up
Add the occasion
for the ceremony
Join the two parts
We dressed up for the ceremony.
Try it now
Match the phrase to the occasion.
Read all answers and explanations
Name the event, not a costume: We dressed up ___ the ceremony.
forFor introduces the occasion. As introduces a character or role in the costume sense; of does not make this pattern.
You already know everyone will wear clothes. Ask whether more formal clothes are needed.
Do we need to dress up?Dress up asks about extra formality here. Get dressed is simply putting clothes on, and as pirates adds an unsupported costume plan.
The host says casual clothes are fine. Which statement communicates that dressing up is not required?
You don't need to dress up.Don’t need to means it is not required. Must not would prohibit it, which the host did not say.
Build it yourself
Build a message about the ceremony
Say that you wore more formal clothes for the ceremony. Use all four pieces.
Choose the pieces in sentence order. Select a piece again to move it back.
Your message
0 of 4 piecesYour chosen pieces will appear here.
See a model answer
We dressed up for the ceremony.
Dressed is the past form. Up completes the phrasal verb; for the ceremony names the occasion.
A little more clarity
Common questions
A few useful details before you move on.
Does everyone have to wear a dress?
No. Dress is a verb in dress up. The phrase can refer to many kinds of more formal clothing.
We dressed up for the ceremony.
Can dress up also mean wear a costume?
Yes. Context gives the meaning. As a pirate makes the costume role explicit; today’s main pattern is for an occasion with more formal clothes.
They dressed up as pirates.
Take it into your day
Dress up for an occasion; ask separately about the actual dress code.
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