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In the some sentences there are several verbs that goes by one another, e.g.:

You both have to go get dressed before ... (something happens)

Subject phrase: "you both"

Verb phrase: "have to go get dressed"

Main verb: "have to go"

  1. What the grammar function of the remaining part of the verb phrase "get dressed"?

  2. Should the particle "to" precede the verb "get" in order to form "to get dressed" phrase?

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  • This is called a "serial verb" construction. English doesn't have many of them; most use go or come: Go help your mother, then come sit here by me. Note also that Go do it is not the same construction as Go and do it.
    – John Lawler
    Commented Mar 25, 2018 at 18:15
  • In British English you are more likely to hear Go and help your mother, Come and sit by me, etc.
    – Shoe
    Commented Mar 26, 2018 at 6:47
  • Isn't this just an informal way of saying "You both have to go and get dressed, which is common in AmE but not in BrE?
    – BillJ
    Commented Mar 26, 2018 at 7:20
  • John, could you explain that link, please? I found no mention of either "Go do it" or "Go and do it" and I have no idea how they could not be the same construction, unless you're thinking of a difference in British and American English…
    – Robbie Goodwin
    Commented Apr 7, 2018 at 21:40

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"Get X" here is used in the sense of "become X" or "put oneself into state or condition X", as in "get drunk", "get ready", or "get started". "Do you usually eat breakfast before or after you get dressed?"

"Go" here likely implies the need to go to the place where one will get dressed. For example, your children are wasting time in the kitchen, and you want them to go to their bedroom to get dressed. It isn't necessary to say "go" explicitly, assuming your kids already know where to go to dress themselves, but it adds a sense of action to the command. "Go! Get dressed!"

"To" wouldn't be inserted between "go" and "get". That may seem strange, because in the past tense one would say "I went to get dressed". I'm having trouble figuring out how to explain it.

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There's an easy way to understand this. It's like a contraction but by omitting entire words rather than shortening them.

"Rock 'n' roll" is a contraction of "Rock and roll".

Likewise, I read this sentence as including a shortening of 'go and get dressed'.

To belabour the point, you could read it as:

You both have to (go to the place where you change clothes) [and] (get dressed) before...

For clarification: the phrase 'get dressed' usually refers to dressing in a specific outfit, e.g. formal wear. It's not as though the subject is naked beforehand.

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