How did she dress or how was she dressed?

[unruly2009]

Are these grammatically correct sentences? And they essentially mean the same thing?

How did she dress?
How was she dressed?

[bhaisahab]

Are these grammatically correct sentences? And they essentially mean the same thing?

How did she dress?
How was she dressed?

They are both grammatically correct, but they do not necessarily have the same meaning.

How was she dressed? means, 1/ 'What was she wearing?' or, 2/ 'In what manner did someone dress her?' depending on context.
How did she dress? means, 3/ 'How did she go about dressing herself? or, if you add '...for the party' for example, it means, 4/ 'What did she wear for the party?' depending on context. Examples 1/ and 3/ are most likely.

[Raymott]

They are both grammatically correct, but they do not necessarily have the same meaning.

How was she dressed? means, 1/ 'What was she wearing?' or, 2/ 'In what manner did someone dress her?' depending on context.
How did she dress? means, 3/ 'How did she go about dressing herself? or, if you add '...for the party' for example, it means, 4/ 'What did she wear for the party?' depending on context. Examples 1/ and 3/ are most likely.

Don't you mean 1 and 4 are most likely? If not, then I think they are.
"How did she dress?" generally means "How was she dressed?" - given that it's much more likely that the speaker is interested in what she wore than how she actually applied it to herself.

[bhaisahab]

Don't you mean 1 and 4 are most likely? If not, then I think they are.
"How did she dress?" generally means "How was she dressed?" - given that it's much more likely that the speaker is interested in what she wore than how she actually applied it to herself.

Yes, that was a mistake, I meant 1 and 4.

[unruly2009]

Thanks a lot for all the clarification and explanation.