Learn English – Why can’t we say: “a person getting crossed”

past-participlesphrasal-verbs

You say to another "get dressed" (1. You say this when someone asks you what you are doing? "I am getting dressed.")

But in the same way, why can't we say "get crossed" (crossing a street)?

Edit: Sorry, but this question is about: a person getting crossed vs. a person getting dressed.

Best Answer

You are exploring a parallel between "dress" and "cross": After one dresses, one is dressed. After one crosses (a street), is one "crossed"? The answer is no.

When one is finished dressing, one is dressed. "Dressed" is a state that one takes on after dressing, the state of wearing clothes. We can check whether a person is in this state by looking at him or her and noting whether we can see clothes or a naked body.

When one is finished crossing a street, one has not changed state, but location. There is no state of a person being "crossed" (at least with respect to this meaning of "cross" -- see footnote). Looking at a person, it is impossible to tell whether the person has crossed any given street.

Another possible explanation for this difference is that dress is intransitive -- it does not take an object -- or reflexive (I am dressing myself). Cross, on the other hand, is transitive. Its object, in the example, is the street.

(footnote: It is possible to say that a person is "crossed" when we use the sense of "to cross" that means "to oppose." A famous example is Shakespeare's "star-crossed lovers," Romeo and Juliet. Another common phrase is "double-crossed" as in "the criminals were double-crossed by their associate.")