Try On or Put On? How to Say What You Are Doing with Your Clothes in English

Picture two friends at a front door. One says, “I tried on my coat.” The other says, “I put on my coat.” Only one of them is leaving. The first friend may still be in front of the mirror, deciding. The second has decided, and the coat is on.

Many learners know every word in both sentences and still mix them up, because try on, put on, take off and dress up all belong to the same drawer: clothes. In a podcast episode about getting ready, Paul and Emily pull them apart with one question: what are you doing with the clothes? The lines in quotation marks below come from that episode. Anything marked written for this page is added here and is not from the episode.

This page is about the moment before an event, at home, when you choose, change and explain. It is not about shopping. If you want to ask a shop assistant for another size, go to How to Ask for a Different Size in English (and Fix the Mistakes Learners Make).

One evening, four moments

Follow one jacket through an evening. Each moment needs a different phrase.

Moment	What you are doing	What you say	From the episode
1	Wearing the jacket for a short time to see how it looks	try on	“So I try on the black jacket first.” (01:26)
2	Deciding, and the jacket goes onto your body	put on	“I decide the blue jacket is better, so I put it on.” (01:50)
3	The room is warm, or the plan changes	take off	“I take it off.” (03:31)
4	The event is special, or it is not	dress up	“No need to dress up.” (02:37)

Paul gives the whole test in one line: “Are you testing, choosing, removing, or changing the level of formality?” (07:13) The next four sections take the moments one at a time.

Moment one: the jacket you are only testing

Try on means you put the clothes on for a short time to see how they look or feel. Paul says it plainly: “That means you wear it for a short time to test it.” (01:31) You are not saying you will wear it. Emily makes the same point about the blue jacket: “I’m not saying I’ll wear the blue one to the dinner.” (01:39) “I’m testing it.” (01:42)

That small difference changes what the listener understands. If you say only I tried on my blue jacket, a listener will probably ask the question Paul names: “And did you choose it?” (02:12) So give the result when it matters. Emily’s version is short: “I tried it on, but I chose the other one.” (19:15) The little word but gives the action an ending.

Moment two: the jacket you chose

Put on starts when you have decided. Emily says it after she picks the blue jacket: “So I put it on.” (01:53) Paul explains the idea: “Put on is the action of placing the clothes on your body because you’re going to wear them.” (02:00)

Then wear takes over. It describes the time after the action: “Put on is the action.” (04:58) “Wear is the state after the action.” (05:00) The two sentences fit side by side: “I put on my jacket before I left.” (05:11) “I wore it all evening.” (05:14)

This is also the repair for Emily’s sentence from the start of the episode. “I tried on my coat and went to work” is possible, but Paul says it “sounds incomplete” (16:17) if you chose the coat and wore it. The fuller version gives the listener the decision: “I tried on my coat, liked it, and put it on before I left.” (16:27)

Moment three: the room is warm

Take off is the opposite of put on. Paul gives the meaning in one line: “Take off here means remove something you’re wearing.” (03:34) Add a reason and the sentence is easy to follow: “I took the jacket off because I was warm.” (18:41) You do not need a long explanation: “One reason is enough.” (18:54)

You can also take off something you only tried on. In a shop, a friend might ask whether you bought the jacket, and the true answer is short: “No, I tried it on, then I took it off.” (22:35) And a plan can change twice. At the workplace photo, Emily takes the blazer off because she is warm, then the manager asks for a quick photo, and she says, “I’ll put the blazer back on for the quick photo, then take it off after.” (21:06) The verbs stay the same. The situation moves.

Moment four: the text that says dress up, or not

Dress up belongs to a different level. The other three verbs describe one item. Paul says dress up is about the whole outfit for the situation: “Dress up usually means wear clothes that are more formal, special, or nicer than your normal clothes for an event or situation.” (02:53)

The friend’s text in the episode shows how it works: “Small change. We’re sitting outside, and it’s very casual. No need to dress up.” (02:33) That is why Emily’s example I dress up every morning sounds strange. Paul’s warning: “People may imagine that every morning is a special occasion.” (06:33) If you simply mean normal clothes, he prefers “I get dressed.” (06:41)

What you mean	Say this	Not this
Your normal clothes went on	I got dressed.	I dressed up.
One piece of clothing went on	I put on my jacket.	I dress up my jacket.
Nicer clothes for a special event	We dressed up for the ceremony.	We dressed up. (and nothing else)
Asking before an event	Do we need to dress up?	Do we need special clothes?

The third row comes from Paul’s advice: “We dressed up for the ceremony” (19:05) is clear because it names the situation. And a little helps: “Dress up does not always mean extremely formal.” (06:54) “The exact level depends on the event.” (06:57)

Where the little word goes

Try on, put on and take off all follow the same pattern. With a noun, the little word can sit on either side: try on the jacket or try the jacket on. With a pronoun, it has to sit in the middle. Paul says, “Say, Try it on.” (07:41) “Not try on it.” (07:44) Then the same for the other two: “Put it on. Take it off.” (07:57) “Not put on it, and not take off it.” (08:01)

With a noun	With a pronoun
try on the jacket / try the jacket on	try it on
put on your coat / put your coat on	put it on
take off your shoes / take your shoes off	take them off

The first column comes from the episode; the take them off form follows the same rule and is the way Emily says it about shoes: “I’m going to take them off.” (10:11) The general rule for many other verbs is on the grammar page Turn It On or Turn On It? Where the Pronoun Goes in Phrasal Verbs. Emily names the real problem for speakers: “Those little pronouns are easy to move to the wrong place when you speak quickly.” (25:51) Dress up is the exception to watch. You do not put a clothing object right after it. You say dress up for the dinner.

The same evening in one short call

Written for this page. Ana is getting ready for an art opening and Leo is calling.

Leo: Are you ready? We leave in ten minutes.

Ana: Almost. I’m going to try the red dress on first.

Leo: How does it look?

Ana: It looks nice, but it feels very formal.

Leo: The invitation says smart casual. Do we need to dress up?

Ana: A little. I’ll try the grey jacket on with my black trousers.

Leo: And?

Ana: I like it. I’ll put it on now. If it gets hot inside, I’ll take it off.

Count the jobs. Try on is the test, twice. Put on is the decision. Take off is the plan for later. Dress up is Leo’s question about the level, and Ana’s answer gives a size to it: a little. Nobody talks about price or size. The call is only about choices and actions, and that is the kind of conversation the episode wants you to practise: “It was about making a clothing choice and explaining the actions.” (13:06)

Try these ten

Say each answer aloud before you open the answers.

1. You are holding a coat. You want to see how it looks before you decide. What do you say?
2. You chose the coat and you are leaving now. What do you say?
3. You arrive and the room is very hot. What do you say about the coat?
4. Your friend says the party is formal. What can you answer?
5. Fix this: It was hot, so I took off it.
6. Fix this: I dress up my jacket. (You mean the jacket went onto your body.)
7. Fix this: I tried the jacket. (You mean you wore it to see how it looks.)
8. Fix this: I dress up every morning. (You mean you put on your normal clothes.)
9. Add a result to this sentence: I tried it on.
10. Which sounds natural with a pronoun: take off it or take it off?

Answers

1. “I want to try this coat on.” (11:08) Or with the pronoun: “I want to try it on.” (11:14)
2. “I’m going to put it on.” (11:23)
3. “I’m going to take it off.” (11:30)
4. “Okay, I’ll dress up a little.” (11:39)
5. “I took it off.” (16:44)
6. “I put on my jacket.” (16:52) Use dress up only for the whole outfit, as in “I dressed up for the dinner.” (16:57)
7. “I tried the jacket on.” (17:28) Or “I tried it on.” (17:31)
8. “I get dressed.” (06:41) That is the sentence for normal clothes.
9. “I tried it on, but I chose the other one.” (19:15)
10. “Take it off.” (23:34) With a pronoun, the little word goes in the middle.

Tell your own evening in about a minute

Think of an event you went to, or one you are going to. Speak for about forty-five to seventy-five seconds and cover four things: what you tried on, what you put on, what you took off (or might take off), and whether you needed to dress up. Add one simple reason, such as the weather, the place, the invitation or the level of formality.

Emily gives a short model for the same task: “I was getting ready for a birthday dinner.” (24:51) “I tried on a black jacket, but it felt too formal for the place.” (24:54) “Then I tried on a cardigan and decided to put it on.” (24:58) “My friend said the restaurant was casual, so we didn’t need to dress up.” (25:02) “Later, the room was warm, so I took the cardigan off.” (25:06)

Make yours longer by adding one or two details so the listener can picture the change. Then say it again with less preparation. On the second try, listen for the pronouns, and check that dress up really means more formal or special clothing.

Four jobs on one sticky note

• Testing? Try on. Give the result if it matters: I tried it on, but I chose the other one.
• Choosing? Put on. Use wear for the time after: I put it on at seven and wore it all evening.
• Removing? Take off, and give one reason: I took the jacket off because I was warm.
• Special event? Dress up for ____. Normal clothes are get dressed. Ask before you go: Do we need to dress up?
• Pronoun? In the middle: try it on, put it on, take it off.

Hear it in a real conversation

Want to hear the birthday dinner, the text that changes the plan and the workplace photo day from start to finish? Go to the Show Note for the episode: Put On, Try On, Take Off and Dress Up: Talk About Getting Ready in English. It follows the video chapter by chapter, with questions and answers for each scene.