An explanation of the different meanings of the English phrasal verb 'catch up', with lots of examples in context
Photo: Pexels
Hello and welcome to my website for English learners all about phrasal verbs!
'Catch up' is a very common verb in the English language with a number of different meanings and uses. In this post, I will explain these different meanings, giving you lots of information about them, such as when we use them and whether or not they are separable. I will also give you lots of examples in context to help you understand, learn and use to impress your friends and colleagues. So, without further ado, let's get started! Don't forget to leave a comment at the end with your own sentences featuring 'catch up' 😃
Usage | Common |
Number of meanings | 5 |
Past tense forms | Caught up / Caught up |
Separable? | Sometimes |
Photo: Pexels
THE BASICS
If you are a regular reader of this blog, you will know that I always start each post by looking at the individual words of a phrasal verb and this one is no exception. Therefore, let's begin by considering the words 'catch' and 'up' and what they mean on their own.
The verb 'to catch' is a common irregular verb in English with many different meanings. The most notable of these are 'to intercept something with your hands that is moving through the air' and 'to capture or trap someone or something', however you may often hear it being used with such diverse nouns as 'cold', 'train' and 'attention', which shows just how broad the range of its different meanings can be.
The goalkeeper caught the ball and stopped it from hitting the back of the net.
The police caught the criminal following a one-hour police chase.
John has caught a cold and isn't feeling very well.
Sarah catches the train every morning at 8am.
Somebody over there is trying to catch your attention.
The prepositional particle 'up' is one that features regularly in phrasal verb constructions, often to add the idea of a movement in an upwards direction or to a higher place or position. In addition to this, the particle 'up' can add several nuances to phrasal verbs, such as the ideas of improvement, preparation, completion, termination and appearance.
So, now that we have covered the basics, let's take a look at the different meanings of the phrasal verb 'catch up'....
MEANING 1: To reach someone who is ahead of you
Photo: Pexels
CEFR Language Level | B2 - Upper intermediate |
Usage | Common |
Where is it used? | Everywhere |
Potential synonyms | To catch, to close, to close in on, to gain on |
Potential antonyms | To fall back |
Separable? | Yes |
The first meaning of 'catch up' that we will cover means 'to reach someone who is ahead of you' and is often heard in reference to sports, in particular races, as well as in everyday social interactions among couples or groups of people.
Let's firstly take the idea of a race between, in the sense of a competition between different people, horses or cars to see who will be the first to travel over a set distance and cross a finishing line. Normally, in a race there will always be one competitor or group of competitors who is in the lead and therefore ahead of the others. Meanwhile, the objective of the other competitors behind the leader is to move faster so as to close the gap, ultimately overtaking the leader and moving into first position. This action of moving more quickly than the competitors in front of you and therefore reducing the gap between you and them can be described as 'catching up'.
This meaning of 'catch up' is separable and when used in a separable way, the name of the person in front (or leader) goes between 'catch' and 'up'. You should note that when we do not separate it, the additional preposition 'with' is usually required to specify the person in front of you or leader.
The Nigerian runner was slowly catching the leader up.
When I was young, I was so fast and nobody could ever catch up with me.
Despite having a head start of 5 minutes, the white rally car was quickly able to catch up with the red one.
This application of 'catch up' is not only reserved for racers and athletes though as we can also use it in our everyday lives, particularly when talking about walking somewhere. You would normally hear this with a couple or a group of people who are all going somewhere together. If one person is delayed or has to stay behind for some reason, they may tell the other people in the group that they should go ahead and that they will follow them when they are ready and catch them up. The idea here is the same as with the race idea, however instead of being the first person to arrive at the destination, here the person just wants to rejoin the group and will have to walk faster than them (or run) until they do so. When used in this way, we tend to use the separable variation more commonly.
I need to dry my hair, so you guys go on and I will catch you up.
Joanne just needs to feed the cats and then she's going to catch us up on the way to the pub.
MEANING 2: To reach the same level as someone
Photo: Pexels
CEFR Language Level | B2 - Upper intermediate |
Usage | Common |
Where is it used? | Everywhere |
Potential synonyms | |
Separable? | Yes |
The next meaning of 'catch up' that we will look at in this post is not too different to the previous one, however rather than focussing on physical movement, this second usage is more to do with reaching the same level as someone else.
For this application, we are thinking more about levels, standards or the quality of something and therefore this is much more to do with how good or bad something is or how things are perceived by people. Furthermore, there are no races involved in this application, as it is all to do with progression and improvement, thus there is no finishing line or end point.
Let's first take the example of somebody's language level. John has been learning French for 10 years. He has spent a lot of time in France and his level of French is perceived to be very good. Natalie, on the other hand, moved to France six months ago without being able to speak a word of French but has been learning the language very quickly as she is surrounded by it every day. Although John's level of French is currently better than Natalie's, it is clear that she is catching him up as her French is improving daily and it will soon be as good as his. In other words, like with the first meaning, the gap between their respective language levels is closing.
Furthermore, this usage could also be used in the context of school or education for when students miss school for a period of time. They will need to catch up with the other students when they return to the classroom as they will be behind.
Moreover, we can use this application of 'catch up' for any similar situation where one person, group or country is considered to be, or is, the leader or the best at something and somebody else in their category improves, thereby decreasing the gap between the quality of the perceived leader and the person who is improving.
For many years, countries in the West had the biggest economies but now the rest of the world is starting to catch up with them.
The Beatles have the most number ones on the singles chart, however several modern artists are catching them up.
It is thought that boys are finally catching girls up when it comes to academic performance and school exam results.
I was the tallest in my class at school for many years until we became teenagers and then suddenly lots of people caught me up.
MEANING 3: To do something that you were unable to do earlier
Photo: Pexels
CEFR Language Level | B2 - Upper intermediate |
Usage | Common |
Where is it used? | Everywhere |
Potential synonyms | To bring oneself up to date |
Separable? | No |
Like most people, I love going on holiday (vacation for those of you learning US English). One thing I dislike however is returning to work after my holiday and facing all of the work and emails that I missed whilst I was not there.The reason that I am telling you this is because this corresponds exactly to our third meaning of 'catch up', which is 'to do something that you were unable to do earlier'.
I used the example of work and holidays above as it is really common to hear 'catch up' used here, so much so that in a busy office you are likely to hear it daily. Before I continue, it is important to note here that when we are in a situation at work where we have not completed as much work as we should have, such as when we go on holiday or are too busy to do it all, we say that we are "behind with our work".
Aside from the world of work, another time that you are highly likely to come across this application of 'catch up' is in relation to television or a television series. This is normally with programmes that you watch regularly e.g. daily or weekly. If you miss an episode of the programme, you will not have seen the most recent episodes and therefore you will be behind, so you will then need to catch up when you can by watching the latest episodes and bringing yourself up to date.
You should note that we require the additional prepositions 'with' or 'on' here to talk specify the TV programme or work that you are behind on.
Please can you divert my calls this morning as I need to catch up on all the emails that I missed last week whilst I was away.
Oh wow, I caught up on Stranger Things last night. I know what you guys were talking about now!
Have you been able to catch up with your work this week?
BONUS Whilst we are on this subject, you may have heard of catch-up television before. This is a television service that has existed for almost twenty years and allows television viewers to catch up with any shows that they have missed via the powers of the internet. Sometimes, the 'tv' is dropped and we simply just say that we will watch something 'on catch-up'.
|
MEANING 4: To learn about things that have happened
Photo: Pexels
CEFR Language Level | B2 - Upper intermediate |
Usage | Common |
Where is it used? | Everywhere |
Potential synonyms | To learn, to share news, to chat |
Separable? | No |
Next, we have our fourth meaning of 'catch up', which is again quite similar to the others that we have looked at so far and means 'to learn about things that have happened'.
In general, this application is used, a bit like with catch-up tv, to mean 'to bring someone up to date about something'. However, it is most commonly used to describe when two people, typically friends or family members, meet up and spend time together talking and telling each other the things that have happened in their lives since they last spoke. In other words, they bring the other person up to date on all their news. It is extremely common to use this phrasal verb when speaking to people who you do not typically see regularly and with whom you need to arrange a rendezvous.
Less commonly, it may also be used by a boss or colleague in the workplace who asks to see you to talk about your progress since you last spoke.
Again, the extra preposition 'with' can be used here to specify the person with whom you catch up, however do not use 'on' for this. Instead, you can use 'on' to specify the subjects that you discussed during your chat or the day of the week that you want to meet.
Lisa and I caught up last week over coffee.
It's been so long since we've spoken! We really need to catch up!
Hi Lucy, are you free to catch up this week
BONUS: The noun 'catch-up' One alternative to this meaning of 'catch up' is the expression 'to have a catch-up', which is also used very frequently by native English speakers. This means the same thing as the phrasal verb and is really just a variation, but if you can use it, it will definitely help your English to sound more natural
|
MEANING 5: To unintentionally become involved in something
Photo: Pexels
CEFR Language Level | C1 - Advanced |
Usage | Medium |
Where is it used? | Everywhere |
Potential synonyms | To become embroiled in |
Separable? | No |
We have now reached our fifth and final meaning of the phrasal verb 'catch up' and this one means 'to unintentionally become involved in something'.
Firstly, this particular application is different to the others that we have looked at as it only exists as a passive construction and is formed of the structure below...
To be caught up in something OR to get caught up in something
As you can see from the above, we can use either the verb 'to be' or 'to get' to form the passive here.
When you get caught up in something, you generally somehow become involved in a situation or event, which is typically (but not always) bad and which you did not choose to be a part of.
Typical examples of this could be an argument or conflict between people, a traffic jam (nobody wants to be involved in one of those) and a political scandal.
How did I manage to get caught up in this mess? It has nothing to do with me!
Somehow my wife has got caught up in an issue at work and she's very stressed about it.
So sorry I am late, I got caught up in an argument at work and had to try and calm it down before I could leave.
Lastly, it is also possible to use this passive form slightly more idiomatically, to mean that you become so involved in an activity that you are unable to notice anything else. It can be used for feelings and emotions, such as getting caught up in the atmosphere of somewhere like a pop concert or a football match. It could however be something a bit more negative, such as getting caught up with work and not having much time for your family or hobbies or getting caught up in your emotions, where you let your emotions rule your thinking and do not therefore think logically about things.
I think everybody in the crowd was caught up in the atmosphere of the concert. It was truly a magical event!
Leon often gets caught up in his emotions and it affects his decision making skills.
Photo: Pexels
We have now reached the end of this post and I just want to say thank you for clicking on my post and reading it. I hope that you've enjoyed it and have been able to learn something new. If you enjoyed this post, please go ahead and check out some of my other posts.
Now it is YOUR turn. Can you think of a sentence yourself using 'catch up'. Write it in the comments section below if you can, or alternatively any comments, suggestions or feedback that you may have....don't be shy!!!
Sign up on the form below if you want to receive new blog posts directly by email every week as soon as they are published.
Also, if you found the post useful, please like and share it on social media. See you next time! James 😊
THE END
I got caught up in the fight but I had nothing to do with it. I promise.