# get dressed



## stelingo

I wrote a short paragraph about my daily routine on Lang8. The first sentences are as follows:

我每天七点起床。然后刷牙，洗脸。来不及吃早饭。我穿上衣服，刷头发.

The person who corrected the paragraph suggested:

我换好衣服，梳好头发。

But 换 means change, does it not? What is the best way of translating 'get dressed'? Thanks in advance.


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## Lucia_zwl

I wouldn't correct 穿 in your original sentence. Both 穿上衣服 and 穿好衣服 are fine for me.
But 换 is not wrong. Maybe that person wants to emphasise that you change your nightclothes into dayclothes.


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## stelingo

Yes, I think you are right Lucia_zwi. Thanks.


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## xiaolijie

Lucia_zwl said:


> Maybe that person wants to emphasise that you change your nightclothes into dayclothes.


You have to explain to that person that you didn't have anything on in the first place, so you're entitled to use 穿好衣服 instead of 换好衣服!


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## Lucia_zwl

xiaolijie said:


> You have to explain to that person that you didn't have anything on in the first place, so you're entitled to use 穿好衣服 instead of 换好衣服!


Actually, we don't distinguish 穿 and 换 in such a logical way in this situation. A mum could wake up her kid by saying, 快起床穿衣服，要迟到了！But it doesn't necessarily mean the kid is sleeping naked.


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## stelingo

Indeed. But how did you know I slept naked?


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## Lucia_zwl

stelingo said:


> Indeed. But how did you know I slept naked?


Well...then just ask, 'cause such privacy is not likely to be revealed easily.


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## zhg

1.I do differ these two words. 穿 means to put something on ,people don't necessarily need to be naked so that they can put on other clothes, like school uniforms,hoodies,jackets etc.. While 换 indeed implies a change action, that you take off the clothes you wear first and then put on another piece.
2. If you do have the habits of brushing teeth, having breakfast (naked)before getting dressed,your sentence works fine,otherwise you need to change its order.


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## stelingo

I thought 来不及吃早饭 meant 'I have no time to eat breakfast' That is what I wanted to say.


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## xiaolijie

stelingo said:


> I thought 来不及吃早饭 meant 'I have no time to eat breakfast' That is what I wanted to say.


Why not simply say: 没有时间吃早饭? It's closer to what you wanted to say.


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## HYCHIN

I think 换好衣服 is better than 穿上衣服.

The word 上 in 穿上 means that the clothes are *on* the body. Some clothes were originally not on your body and now you put them on.
The phrase 穿上 does not necessarily mean that you were naked before you put on the clothes, but some people may think you were.
The word 穿 describes the action you put on some clothes. 穿 means "through/cross/penetrate". When you put on a shirt, your arm goes *through* the sleeve.

The 好 in 换好 means that some appropriate clothes are *readi*ly put on for some purpose. (For example, you put on some sportswear and you are going to do some sports.)
The 换好 does not imply you were naked either, but most likely people will think that you were originally not naked and you change clothes.
The word 换 describes the action that you change something. You are already in some clothes but you still *change* them, so you must have some intention to do something.

So, 换好 involves much intention, but 穿上 involves little intention.

You just wake up in the morning, so most likely you put on some clothes because you are going to go outside. You action to put one the clothes is intentional.

P.S.
穿上 means wear, put on. This phrase is related to clothes. 换好 means change and get ready. This phrase is not related to clothes.


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## stelingo

xiaolijie said:


> Why not simply say: 没有时间吃早饭? It's closer to what you wanted to say.


 That is what I originally wrote, but the person on lang8 suggested 来不及吃早饭 sounds better. It seems there isn't a consensus on whether  换好衣服 or 穿上衣服 is better in my sentence.


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## stellari

As previously mentioned, semantically those two words have differences ("change" and "put on"). However in daily life, I would simply use them interchangeably, since I usually interpret 穿上衣服 in this context as "put on your (day) clothes” and in the way, you don't have to sleep naked to use this word. I think it doesn't really matter which one you use; it's more of a personal preference. 

来不及吃早饭 does sound slightly more "urgent" than 没有时间吃早饭, but not necessarily better. For me, 来不及吃早饭 is a little more suitable for describing what happened in a particularly day, and 没有时间吃早饭 is slightly better for things that occur regularly. However, the difference is really tiny, if not negligible.


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## Youngfun

For me, when one wakes up, he 穿衣服.
If someone says 换衣服 I would assume he is already dressed for going out when sleeping... so e.g. maybe he's wearing a shirt? and jeans? while sleeping? (I do that often when I fall asleep on the bed and forget to change clothes )


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