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Add up – to add a group of numbers together until you reach a final sum.
Clean up – to clean a house (or another physical space, like an office or school) until it
is extremely clean.
Warm up – to sit in a warm space, such as by the fire or next to a radiator, until you
are warm.
Examples:
7. When Jessica moved out, she had to pack up all her belongings.
With these verbs, you can use the base verb without a big change in meaning. However,
including "up" means that you do the activity until it is finished.
"Up" meaning to divide
Another meaning of "up" is to divide, or to split into smaller pieces. Common
phrasal verbs where "up" means divide are the following:
Blow up – to explode.
Crack up – to laugh so hard it hurts. Almost like you feel you are going to break!
Examples:
1. When the students mixed the wrong chemicals together, the experimentblew up.
2. Sally felt sad after she broke up/split up with her boyfriend.
5. The teacher cut up some paper to play a game with his class.
6. I'm going to rip up/tear up these old papers, since I don't need them anymore.
Freshen up – to wash your face, brush your teeth and change your clothes, usually
when you get back from work or school.
Make up – to put on lipstick, blush and other cosmetics. Make up is also common as
a noun.
1. Susannah was in a bad mood, but she cheered up after spending time with her
friends.
2. It rained all week, but on Saturday the weather finally brightened up.
3. My mom and dad like to freshen up after they get back from the office.
Let up – when it stops raining or snowing. Also, when someone stops doing something
annoying.
Examples:
2. Leaning the piano is very difficult, but I'm not going to give up.
3. My speakers have been playing up recently. I'm not sure what's wrong with them.
4. I knew Linda was keeping a secret. After I asked her about it a few times, she
finally owned up.
5. We were held up in traffic for four hours on our way back from Connecticut.
Examples:
1. The boss said that if the employees had questions, they could bringthem up in the
meeting.
2. I had a question about something, but the answer came up in class before I even got
to ask.
Hang up – to put down the phone. Although this verb seems illogical, it makes sense
when you remember that in the past, phones looked different and the receiver actually
was "up".
Sit up – to sit straight and not slouch.
Examples:
Provided that traffic doesn't hold up the school bus, Luisa usually turns up at school at 8
o'clock. Her best friend, Carla, sometimes shows up a little bit late. Luisa always brightens
up when she sees Carla, because Carla is very funny and makes Luisa crack up with laughter.
The two girls know each other very well, because they grew up together.
In math class Luisa and Carla practice adding up numbers. In art class they do drawing and
painting, and afterwards they clean up. In science they do experiments. Once Luisa and
Carla blew up a test tube by mistake! That day, they had to own up to the teacher and explain
what happened.
At the end of the day they pack up their bags and head home. At home they freshen up and do
their homework. When they have questions, they look upinformation on the internet, or they
call each other on the phone for help. At the end of their conversations they hang up and
spend time with their families. And then the next day they get up and do it all over again!
Quiz
Answer the following 10 questions and then check your answers. Each question is
worth 10 points.
Part 1:
A. let up
B. give up
C. hold up
D. make up
A. turn up
B. break up
C. look up
D. give up
Part 2:
A. heat up
B. give up
C. pack up
D. turn up
A. brought up
B. hung up
C. ripped up
D. broke up
3. My computer has been ____________. I don't know what's wrong with it.
A. splitting up
B. owning up
C. holding up
D. playing up
A. did up
B. brought up
C. gave up
D. got up
5. Vincent has really ____________ the movie. I hope it's as good as he says.
A. added up
B. drunk up
C. talked up
D. played up
A. sit up
B. freshen up
C. own up
D. come up
Answer key
Part 1: 1. A | 2. C | 3. D | 4. A
Part 2: 1. B | 2. C | 3. D | 4. A | 5. C | 6. B
Other resources
Be sure to check out our other phrasal verb resources here:
Phrasal-Prepositional Verbs
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