G R A M M A R
on holiday.
Phrasal verbs?
Theyre easy! 4
John Ryan ties up his exploration of verbs that take up.
n Issue 64 of ETp, I looked at verbs
I which take up and concentrated on
two possible meanings.
1 The direction 
(primarily with verbs
of movement)
2 Creation or death (signifying the
beginning or the end of something)
Now I would like to look at more verbs
with up, but this time covered by the
third category I mentioned in my last
article: the road to perfection.
What is perfection? Have you ever seen
it? Have you ever smelt or tasted it? No?
I think it is fair to say that outside a
religious context, nothing is perfect.
Even the most perfect circle you can
draw with the most advanced computer
wont look perfect when viewed under a
powerful microscope. However, we all
have an idea of perfection. For example,
I can imagine my perfect holiday, my
perfect partner or my perfect meal.
When you put up beside some verbs,
it moves the action closer to this idea of
perfection. Imagine an empty glass.
What is its job? To hold liquid. So when
the glass is absolutely full, can I say its
perfect? I believe so because it is doing
its job 100%, or completely. That 100%
means its fulfilling all of its potential.
We cannot ask the glass to do more
than this. Therefore the road, the
journey to perfection is the verb to fill
up. Now, you may say that in this case,

up means . But we also fill up a tyre
with air, and this is in every direction!
Growing up
Heres another example. When we give
our children food and education, we are
bringing them up. We are developing
them towards perfection. (Of course,
unfortunately, they never arrive!)
Children grow up. Animals and plants
I brushed up on my French last year
dont grow up, they just grow. They get
bigger. Growing up is not just about
getting bigger and fatter; its about
developing. Plants dont grow up, cities
dont grow up. Only humans do. When
we grow up, we develop, we come closer
to an idea of perfection.
Look at that man. Hes wearing
better clothes than normal. Hes not
just dressed. Hes dressed up for a
special occasion. He looks perfect!
Turn up the TV! In this case, the
volume is too low. Turn it up. Perfect!
Thank you.
Speak up! Speak louder. Louder!
Perfect! Thank you.
Why do women wear make up? Do
they see it as a development towards
perfection? In this case, maybe its
perfect femininity.
Hes always trying to butter me up.
Im his boss, and hes always saying nice
things to me. Why? Because he wants a
favour, a raise or extra holidays! He
wants to develop our relationship to a
perfect level.
Cleaning up
Very often, verbs associated with
cleaning are verbs with up. After all,
when you clean up something, you are
developing it towards perfection! Here
are some examples:
I mopped up the floor.
I tidied up my bedroom.
I cleaned up the house.
I wiped up the spilt milk.
I swept up the leaves.
I smartened up the room with some
cushions.
I jazzed up the living room with some
flowers.
Last week I did up my house.
(I decorated it now its perfect.)
www.etprofessional.com ENGLISH TEACHING professional Issue 65 November 2009
I need to brush up on my computer
skills.
Up to you
We saw earlier that there is a big
difference between being dressed and
being dressed up. With the next group of
verbs, however, up is optional. You
dont have to say it. If you do say it, the
image is the same, just more complete.
For example, the shop is closed and the
shop is closed up are more or less the
same. The only difference is that with
closed up, the shop is more closed (if
you can imagine that). If I say the shop
is closed, it could be for lunch, whereas
the shop is closed up is likely to be for
the night or much longer.
Here are more verbs which behave
like this. Notice that all of them mean
closing in some way, but with some
there really isnt much difference
whether you use up or not.
You can board the windows or you
can board up the windows.
You can tie your shoelaces or tie up
your shoelaces.
You can lock the house or lock up
the house. (However, you lock, not
lock up, the door.)
You can button your shirt or button
up your shirt.
You can tape or tape up a box.
You can block or block up a gap or
hole.
The drains can be clogged or
clogged up.
You can parcel or parcel up
something to be sent.
You can seal or seal up a building or
a room.
Some string can become tangled or
tangled up.
You can zip or zip up your jacket.
In the next issue, I will look at verbs
with across and through. ETp
John Ryan is the Director
of Studies at Delfin
School of English, Dublin,
Ireland, and believes that
the English language is
accessible to all learners
as there is an underlying
logic, which exists even
in the most idiomatic of
phrases. Bringing this
logic to the learner is his
goal in training.
lifethroughenglish@gmail.com
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