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I was watching a movie and I heard that the actress said, "She is never worn lipstick to the pool before," I think it should be like this, "She has never worn lipstick in the pool before."

Is it grammatically correct to say, "She is never worn lipstick to the pool before"?

And is it correct to say, "She has never worn lipstick to the pool before"?

It is confusing for me to know whether "to the pool" is correct or "in the pool."

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  • I’m voting to close this question because it is based on misunderstanding a contraction.
    – Davo
    Dec 14, 2022 at 16:52

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The quote is "She's never worn..." not, "She is...".

"She's" can also be a contraction of "she is", but the context tells you which it is, and clearly it's "she has" in this case.

If she wears lipstick to the pool, that means between her house and the pool she's got lipstick on. She may remove it before she actually goes swimming.

If she wears lipstick in the pool, that means she goes swimming with lipstick on.

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  • I understand, but is it correct to use "to" and "in" interchangeably in the mentioned context?
    – dan
    Dec 11, 2022 at 17:36
  • @dan I've added to my answer
    – gotube ♦
    Dec 11, 2022 at 19:58
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to wear lipstick in the pool [in the actual pool]

to wear lipstick to the pool [at the location of the pool but not in the water per se; on the occasion of going to the pool]

The second would not be usual but is not wrong if that is your meaning.

to wear a dress to the party [on the occasion of, like the two below]
to wear lipstick to the party
to wear sneakers to work or to school

The pronoun to and in have different meanings.

About the verb wear: She has worn sneakers to school. She is wearing sneakers to school today.

"She has worn" contracts to: "She's worn", which is has, not is.

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  • But if you use "to" in the infinitive form of a verb and "for" followed by a noun, so "pool" is a noun, then why didn't the actress say, "for the pool"?
    – dan
    Dec 11, 2022 at 18:09
  • @dan Please write that out in full. It is very annoying to try and figure out cryptic remarks. Thank you.
    – Lambie
    Dec 11, 2022 at 18:18
  • @dan, it is not clear what you are asking, but I think you're assuming that there is something wrong with using to twice, for different purposes. There isn't. Style guides sometimes advise finding ways to avoid repeating words, but a) that's a matter of style, not grammar, and b) it wouldn't apply here. You can wear something for something only if you are referring to an event or activity ("wear an apron for cooking"). Sometimes you can use a place metonymically to represent an activity that happens there ("wear a suit for the office").
    – Colin Fine
    Dec 11, 2022 at 20:57

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