Try on means to put on clothes, shoes or glasses to check the size and how they look on you. With a pronoun, the only possible order is try it on, try them on. In informal British English, try it on also means to test how far someone's patience will go: Don't try it on with me.
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try on + clothes/shoes/glasses; try it/them on; try it on (with + person)
- I tried on five pairs of jeans, but none of them fitted properly.
- Can I try these boots on in a bigger size?
- The kids were trying it on with their new babysitter all evening.
What changed
First versionCan I measure these jeans before I buy them?
RevisionCan I try on these jeans before I buy them?
Measure may look like the right verb for checking the size, but measure means to find the size of something with a ruler or tape measure: measure the room. In a shop, you don't measure clothes before buying them, you try them on: try on these jeans.
Try on and put on are both about putting clothes on, but for different purposes. Try on means to put something on to see if it suits you; put on means simply to get dressed: I tried on the coat in the shop, and now I put it on every morning.
Your turn
In the fitting room, Lena ___ three dresses and chose the blue one.
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tried on — In a fitting room, you put clothes on to see how they fit, so tried on. Tried out is used for things you test in use: a car, an app, a recipe. Dresses are not tested that way.
Describe the last time you went shopping for clothes or shoes. Say what you tried on and why you did or didn't buy it.
Last Saturday I tried on a grey wool coat, but I didn't buy it because the sleeves were too long.
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