up
part of speech
adverb, preposition, adjective, verb (up, ups, upped — casual)
meaning for a pupil
1) Up means toward a higher place: climb up the tree. tree →
2) Up means at a higher place: the cat is up on the roof. tree →
3) Up means more or higher in amount: prices went up. tree →
4) Up means out of bed: are you up yet? tree →
5) Up means completely, until nothing is left: eat it up, use up. tree →
6) Up means along: walk up the street. tree →
7) «What's up?» means «What is happening?» or «What is wrong?» tree →
8) (casual) «Sup» or «wassup» is a clipped «what's up»; «up for it» means willing: «you up for footy?» tree →
9) (casual) To up something is to raise it: «they upped the price by 2». tree →
10) (casual) «Time's up» means time is over; «up to you» means you decide; «what are you up to?» means what are you doing. tree →
11) (rough) «Shut up», «belt up» and «wind someone up» (tease to anger) are rough uses. tree →
12) (formal) «Increase», «ascend» and «elevate» are stiff words: «The price increased by 2 dollars.» tree →
13) Up can also be used with "grow" to mean becoming an adult, as in "children grow up". tree →
sense in the lessons
Maths: going higher (climb up, prices go up) means add; «add up» means find the total; «used up» and «gave up» mean take away; round up. Everyday phrases: get up, stand up, give up, pick up, tidy up, look up a word, up to (as many as). Safety: look up and down the street before crossing. In casual talk: «sup», «up for it», «what you up to». In the exam voice: «increased by», «ascended a total of 20 steps», «not exceeding 3». Phrases: «ups and downs», «up and down», «up to date», «up north».
examples
- The price went up by 2 dollars. tree →
- Add up all the numbers. tree →
- She used up 3 eggs. tree →
- He climbed up 20 steps. tree →
- Round 47 up to 50. tree →
- Time to get up for school! tree →
- You can bring up to 3 friends. tree →
- Tidy up your room, please. tree →
- sup, u up for footy? need 2 more for 5 a side (casual) tree →
- They upped the price again, 3 quid now, rip-off. (casual, annoyed) tree →
- Shut up and add them up, it's 12. (rough) tree →
- The price of a ticket increased by 2 dollars; determine the revised price given an initial price of 7 dollars. (formal exam) tree →
- All children, except one, grow up. tree →
note
«Went up by» and «add up» mean add; «used up» and «gave up» mean take away. The verb before «up» decides. Trap: «up to 3» means 3 or fewer. Opposite: down. «What's up?» is a greeting, not a direction. «Upped» (casual) = raised. «Wind up» means tease, «wound up» means upset. Formal «increased by» = went up by (add); «not exceeding» = up to.
In the corpora
- Employers often glance at a CV for less than a minute, so grown-ups fuss over every word.
- A promotion is a move up to a more senior job in the same organisation, usually with more responsibility and more pay.
- There are also ways workers stand up for themselves: unions, strikes, picket lines and tribunals.
- It means grown-ups are steering the money so it lasts the whole month.
- Rent is often a family's biggest bill, so when it goes up, other spending has to shrink.
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «up» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.