up
“Up” is one of those small, functional words in English that shows up all over the place in English. It can be used as an adjective, a verb, or as a preposition. Over time, you’ll find out that it’s often used with many other words to create thousands of different meanings.
On this page, you can find examples of ways to use the word “up.” In this first video, the word “up” is an adjective or a preposition.
(be) + up
a. "up" as a verb
When “up” is a verb it means to increase something.
- The school is upping the requirements for admission.
- The store will have to up the prices for dairy products this month.
- The other side is trying to up the ante with an increased military presence.
- You’ll have to up the amount of ingredients in this recipe in order to feed eight people.
- The company is upping the pressure on its employees to produce more products.
b. (be) + up 2
When “up” is a verb it means to increase something.
- The school is upping the requirements for admission.
- The store will have to up the prices for dairy products this month.
- The other side is trying to up the ante with an increased military presence.
- You’ll have to up the amount of ingredients in this recipe in order to feed eight people.
- The company is upping the pressure on its employees to produce more products.
c. show up
The word “up” is part of many phrasal verbs in English. To “show up” is a phrasal verb that we use for a person who makes an appearance somewhere or arrives at a location.
- He didn’t show up for his appointment.
- Joe showed up late for class. The teacher told him not to show up late.
- The money I deposited in my account showed up immediately.
d. bring up
There are two main meanings for bring up. 1. When you bring up a subject or a topic, you talk about it; 2. When you bring up a child, you raise it from baby to adult.
- The teacher brought up the issue of climate change during a class discussion.
- I don’t like to bring up the subject of money with my kids.
- You probably shouldn’t bring that up right now.
- Julia is bringing up three kids on her own.
- It’s hard to bring kids up properly these days.
- Your behavior is terrible. Who brought you up?
- I was brought up to respect other people.
