Phrasal verb with up: The main meanings of up, common examples and how to pair them with down

A phrasal verb with up combines a verb with the particle up, and the meaning is often different from what you would guess from the separate words. Pick up can mean to lift something, to collect a person or to learn a skill casually, while give up has nothing to do with direction at all. Because up is a very frequent particle in English, learners meet these verbs constantly, in everyday conversation, in films and in exams.

This article explains the main meanings that up adds to a verb, lists common Phrasal verb grouped by meaning with example sentences, compares verbs with up and down, and covers the word order rules and common mistakes, followed by exercises with answers.

What the particle up adds to a verb: Eight common meanings

The particle up does not have one fixed meaning. It adds one of several ideas, and recognizing which one is used helps you work out new Phrasal verb.

Common Phrasal verb with up grouped by meaning, with example sentences

Phrasal verb with up that mean moving to a higher position

• pick up: lift something. She picked up the book from the floor.
• stand up: rise from sitting. Everyone stood up when the teacher entered.
• get up: leave your bed. I get up at six every morning.
• hold up: raise something so people can see it. He held up the winning ticket.

Phrasal verb with up that mean increasing something

• speed up: go or make something go faster. The driver sped up on the empty road.
• turn up: increase volume or heat. Can you turn up the music?
• go up: rise in price or level. Prices went up again this year.
• build up: increase gradually. Traffic builds up near the city at five o’clock.

Phrasal verb with up that mean finishing or using something completely

• eat up: finish all the food. Eat up your vegetables, please.
• use up: consume all of something. We have used up all the milk.
• finish up: complete the last part. Let’s finish up the report before lunch.
• clean up: make a place tidy. The children cleaned up their room.
• add up: produce a total, or make sense. The numbers do not add up.

Phrasal verb with up that mean approaching or reaching someone

• walk up to: approach on foot. A man walked up to me and asked for directions.
• catch up with: reach someone who is ahead. I will catch up with you after the lesson.
• keep up with: stay at the same level or pace. It is hard to keep up with the news.

Phrasal verb with up that mean appearing or arising

• turn up: arrive or appear, often unexpectedly. He turned up an hour late.
• show up: arrive or appear, often used informally. Only half of the guests showed up.
• come up: arise or be mentioned. The topic came up during the meeting.
• crop up: appear unexpectedly. New problems keep cropping up.

Phrasal verb with up that mean starting or creating

• set up: establish or arrange. They set up a small business last year.
• come up with: think of an idea or plan. She came up with a clever solution.
• draw up: prepare a document. The lawyer drew up the contract.
• grow up: become an adult. He grew up in a small town.

Phrasal verb with up that mean ending, stopping or dividing

• give up: stop trying, or stop a habit. Don’t give up now. She gave up sugar.
• break up: end a relationship or separate into parts. They broke up last spring.
• tear up: rip into pieces. He tore up the letter.
• end up: finally be in a situation. We ended up walking home.

Phrasal verb with up and down: Pairs of opposites and pairs that are not opposites

Many learners search for phrasal verb with up and down because the two particles often appear in pairs. Sometimes the pairs are true opposites, and sometimes the two Phrasal verb have different meanings that must be learned separately.

Pairs of Phrasal verb that are real opposites

Pairs with different meanings that are not simple opposites

The pattern is useful but not reliable, so each pair should be learned as separate vocabulary.

Separable and inseparable Phrasal verb with up: Where the object goes

Some Phrasal verb with up can be separated by the object, and some cannot.

The pronoun rule for separable verbs

When the object is a pronoun such as it, them or her, it must go between the verb and up.

Examples: She picked it up. (not “She picked up it.”) I will look it up. (not “I will look up it.”)

Common mistakes with Phrasal verb with up and how to fix them

• Putting a pronoun after up. Writing She picked up it instead of She picked it up.
• Splitting an inseparable verb. Writing I look my parents up to instead of I look up to my parents.
• Leaving out the second particle. Writing He came up a plan instead of He came up with a plan, or I can’t put up this noise instead of I can’t put up with this noise.
• Using up with the wrong meaning. Writing I turned up the offer when you mean I turned down the offer.
• Confusing a phrasal verb with a verb + preposition. In She looked up at the sky, up describes direction and look keeps its normal meaning, while in She looked up the answer, look up means to search for information.
• Using a phrasal verb with up when a single verb may suit formal writing better. For example, raise may suit a formal report better than put up, so consider your audience.

Exercises with phrasal verb with up and answers

Exercise 1: Complete each sentence with a phrasal verb with up

Use: pick up, give up, turn up, look up, come up with, put up with. Change the form where necessary.

1. Please ______ the toys before dinner.
2. I don’t know this word, so I will ______ it in the dictionary.
3. She ______ a clever solution to the problem.
4. Don’t ______ trying; you are almost there.
5. He didn’t ______ at the meeting until noon.
6. We cannot ______ the noise any longer.

Sample answers: 1. pick up – 2. look up – 3. came up with – 4. give up – 5. turn up – 6. put up with

Exercise 2: Choose up or down to complete each sentence

1. Could you turn ______ the music? I can’t hear it. (up / down)
2. Please turn ______ the volume. It is too loud. (up / down)
3. The car broke ______ on the motorway. (up / down)
4. The plane slowed ______ before landing. (up / down)
5. Speed ______, or we will be late. (up / down)
6. They broke ______ after five years together. (up / down)

Sample answers: 1. up – 2. down – 3. down – 4. down – 5. up – 6. up

Exercise 3: Find and correct the error in each sentence

1. She picked up it. → correct to She picked it up.
2. I looked up it in the dictionary. → correct to I looked it up in the dictionary.
3. He came up with to a plan. → correct to He came up with a plan.
4. I can’t put it up with. → correct to I can’t put up with it.
5. They gave up it. → correct to They gave it up.

Tips for learning Phrasal verb with up and down

• Learn the meaning of up first. Knowing the eight ideas above helps you guess the meaning of verbs you have not met.
• Study pairs together. Putting turn up and turn down side by side highlights that the meaning is not always opposite.
• Learn the object rule with each verb. Note whether a verb is separable when you first learn it.
• Write one example sentence for each meaning. A sentence from your own life is easier to remember than a definition.
• Read and listen for them. Notice Phrasal verb in films, news and conversations, and add them to a personal list.

A phrasal verb with up can describe movement, increase, completion, approach, appearance, creation, division or ending. Grouping verbs by these meanings, comparing them with their down partners, and learning the pronoun rule for separable verbs makes them much easier to use. Keep in mind that up and down do not always form opposites, so learn each phrasal verb as its own item and practice it in real sentences.

See also: Phrasal verbs with make: The common meanings, example sentences and how to use them correctly

Frequently asked questions about hrasal verb with up

What does up mean in a phrasal verb?

It can mean upward movement, increase, completion, approach, appearance, starting or creating something, division or ending. The meaning depends on the verb and the context, so check a learner dictionary when a meaning is unclear.

Are Phrasal verb with up and down always opposites?

No. Turn up and turn down can be opposites when they refer to volume, but turn up also means arrive, and turn down also means refuse. Break up and break down have different meanings, so each pair should be learned separately.

Where do I put the object in a phrasal verb with up?

With separable verbs such as pick up, you can put a noun object before or after up, but a pronoun must go between the verb and up, as in pick it up. With inseparable verbs such as look up to and come up with, the object comes after the whole phrasal verb.

Keyword:

• phrasal verb with up and down
• phrasal verb with up