Home of English Grammar

Free Guide (Updated for 2023)

  • Home
  • Download Lessons
  • Grammar Rules
  • Online Exercises
  • Online Tools
    • Grammar Checker
    • Word Counter
  • Guides
  • Contact
You are here: Home / Lessons / Up as a preposition and adverb particle

Up as a preposition and adverb particle

June 15, 2012 - pdf

The word up can be used as a preposition or as an adverb particle. For example, it is an adverb particle in the expressions stand up and blow up. Note that an adverb particle doesn’t have an object. A preposition is always followed by a noun or a noun equivalent which serves as its object.

  • John is already up. (= John is out of bed.)

As a preposition up is used to talk about position in or movement to a higher or more important place or degree etc.

  • Pull your socks up.
  • He is going up to London. (= He is going from the country to London.)

Up to

When you are up to something, you are occupied or busy with it.

  • What’s he up to?
  • He’s up to no good. (= He is doing something wrong.)

Up to can also mean equal to.

Not up to much = not very good

  • I don’t feel up to doing much. (= I don’t feel well enough to do much.)

What’s up? is the slang for What’s the matter?

The game’s up, it’s all up. (= We are beaten, we have lost.)

Ups and downs = changes of fortune.

  • I have had my share of ups and downs, but life has generally been good to me.
  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • Twitter
  • WhatsApp
1,191,672 
614,588 

Check Your Grammar

GrammarCheck.net - Try online
Hint → Bookmark GrammarCheck for future use.

Latest Exercises

  • Prepositions Quiz May 16, 2023
  • While vs. During May 14, 2023
  • General Grammar Exercise May 13, 2023
  • Degrees of Comparison Exercise May 12, 2023
  • Prepositions Quiz May 10, 2023
  • Tenses Quiz May 9, 2023
  • Gap Filling Vocabulary Exercise May 5, 2023
  • Prepositions Quiz May 3, 2023
  • General Grammar Exercise April 30, 2023

Topics

  • Adjectives
  • Adverbs
  • Business Writing
  • Commas
  • Conjunctions
  • Creative Writing
  • Difference
  • Essay Writing
  • Exercises
  • Learning
  • Lessons
  • Nouns
  • Prepositions
  • Pronouns
  • Proofreading
  • Punctuation
  • Quiz
  • Spelling
  • Style Guide
  • Teaching
  • Terms
  • Verbs
  • Words
  • Writing

Quiz

  • Can you correct these 14 basic grammar mistakes?
  • What kind of writer are you?

Copyright © 2023 · EnglishGrammar.org
Disclaimer · Privacy Policy · Sitemap