Phrasal Verbs

Unit 3.1 - "Up" meaning "Increasing" or "Improving"

Guess the meanings of the phrasal verbs from context:
1. Prices have gone up because of inflation.
2. She was born and grew up in New Zealand.
3. Business is finally picking up after the recession.
4. Bad harvest this year has pushed up the price of rice.
5. Speed up! We are late.
6. Our landlord has just bumped the rent up by $100.
7. I need to brush up on my Japanese before visiting Japan.
8. He failed the test so I took him out for lunch to cheer him up.
9. I plan to spend the summer doing up my house.
10. Most people dress up to attend a wedding ceremony.
All these phrasal verbs have the meaning of "increasing" (in amount, rate, prices, etc.) or "improving" (in appearance, skills, feelings). See Explanations ê
Explanations:

Go up

(inseparable)

To increase (used with an amount, rate, or standard)

>>The government is trying to prevent interest rates from going up.
>>The gasoline price has gone up by five cents a liter.

Grow up

(inseparable)

To gradually change from being a child to being an adult

>>What do you want to be when you grow up?

Pick up

(separable)

To improve or increase after a bad period

>>In the past few months, house sales have started to pick up again.

Push up

(separable)

To increase the amount, number, or value of something

>>Increases in indirect taxes will push inflation up.

Speed up (separable)

To happen or move more quickly

>>You can speed up the application process by faxing us your form.

Bump up

(separable)

To increase the size or amount of something [e.g. price] by a large amount

>>Leather seats will bump up the price of the car to $15,995.

Brush up on (inseparable)

To practice and improve your skills or your knowledge of something that you learned before but have partly forgotten

>>He was hoping to brush up on his Italian before our trip.

Cheer up (separable)

To start to feel happier

>>We sent some flowers to the hospital to cheer her up.

>>Cheer up! It's not the end of the world!

Do up (separable)

To repair or improve the looks of something [e.g. a building]

>>She and her husband were planning to buy an old house and do it up.

Dress up (separable)

To put on formal or special clothes for a special occasion

>>John dressed up for the big occasion.
>>When I was small, my mother would dress me up in pretty dresses.

Exercises:
- Complete the following conversations:
  - Sam: John! What's the matter? You look depressed.
  - John: Well, my landlord has just my rent to $1800 a month.
  - Sam: Oh dear. How much was the rent before the increase?
  - John: $1500 a month.
  - Sam: Wow! It has quite a bit!
  - John: Exactly! High demand recently has apartment rents. I have been thinking of buying an old house and it , but my business is not doing so well, so I don't have enough money.
  - Sam: Oh, ! I think business will soon now that the recession is over.
  - John: I really hope so.
  - Ann: You're all ! Are you going out on a date?
  - Jun: No. I'm going to meet my friend Yuko.
  - Ann: Is she Japanese?
  - Jun: Yes.
  - Ann: Well, have you been your Japanese lately?
  - Jun: No. Yuko in Los Angeles, so she can speak English.
  - Ann: I see. So why is she in town?
  - Jun: Well, she is applying for a job here, and to things , she is handing in her application in person.

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