An explanation of the different meanings of the English phrasal verb 'shake up' from a native speaker, with lots of examples in context
Hello and welcome to my website for English learners all about phrasal verbs where I explain their different meanings to help you understand, learn and use them.
In this post, I am shaking things up and explaining the phrasal verb 'shake up'. As you will learn in the post, I'm not really shaking things up as I am keeping my usual format but I just wanted an excuse to use it. So, how well do you know this fairly informal phrasal verb and its three different meanings? If you don't know them all, then don't worry as I will talk you through each one and give you lots of example sentences to aid your understanding. So, without further ado, let's make a start....
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SHAKE UP: KEY INFORMATION
Usage | Common |
Number of meanings | 3 |
Past tense forms | Shook up / Shaken up |
Separable? | Yes |
MEANINGS (Click to jump to each one)
THE BASICS
Before we get into the different meanings of 'shake up', let's first take a moment to consider the individual words 'shake' and 'up' and what they mean on their own.
The verb 'to shake' is a fairly common irregular English verb that primarily means to move quickly up and down or from side to side with short, often forceful, movements. It can be used transitively with a direct object (you can shake something) or intransitively without a direct object (something shakes) and it can be used to talk about both objects and people. In addition to this first meaning, 'to shake' can also be used to mean to get rid of something and to make something less certain or sure.
I shook my husband to wake him up.
The speaker was very nervous during his speech and you could see that his hands were shaking.
The CEO's shook hands before the meeting started.
The whole house started to shake during the earthquake.
I have had a cough for weeks and I can't shake it.
My trust in my friends was shaken when I learned about their lies.
The prepositional particle 'up' is an extremely frequent constituent part of phrasal verbs and can be used to denote an upwards movement or an increase of some sort (go up, move up) to phrasal verb constructions. Moreover, it can also add the ideas of change (give up), preparation (set up), completion (eat up) and collection (gather up), among others.
So, now that we have covered the basics, let's move on to the different meanings of the phrasal verb 'shake up'....
MEANING 1: To shake something in order to mix it
CEFR Language Level | A2 - Elementary |
Usage | Medium |
Where is it used? | Everywhere |
Potential synonyms | To shake, to agitate |
Separable? | Yes |
The first of our meanings of 'shake up' is the one that is closest in meaning to its base verb as it simply means 'to shake something in order to mix it'.
Nouns commonly used with this application....
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This application is in fact very similar to the meaning of the verb 'to shake' and can in some cases be used as a direct synonym of it. However, 'shake up' is normally used to talk about things that are made up of different components and when we shake them up, all of these different components within it move around and mix together. This is usually done to prepare something in order for us to be able to use or consume it.
For clarity, just using the verb 'to shake' here would often not be as clear enough as it would simply signify that you were shaking something, without the intention of mixing the items together.
For example, if I am making a cocktail, then I would tend to use 'shake up' to refer to the action of mixing all of the ingredients together instead of 'shake'. Conversely, I might shake a bag to make sure that no contents remain inside it and in this case 'shake up' would sound incorrect as my intention is to empty the bag and not mix the contents of the bag together.
Moreover, we would not use 'shake up' for a solid object that has nothing within it to mix together, for example if you wanted to shake a cushion to remove the dust, 'shake off' would not work.
Gramatically speaking, this usage is separable and is used both ways by native speakers.
Before drinking the juice, make sure to shake up the bottle to mix the pulp.
Roger shook the salad dressing up in order to blend the oil and vinegar properly.
You need to shake the paint up before using it to ensure an even colour.
Lisa shook up the protein shake to dissolve the powder completely.
The pharmacist told the patient to shake up the medicine bottle before taking a dose.
MEANING 2: To make big changes to something
CEFR Language Level | C1 - Advanced |
Usage | Common |
Where is it used? | Everywhere |
Potential synonyms | To reorganise, to reshuffle, to restructure, to overhaul, to reform |
Separable? | Yes |
Let's move on to the second meaning of 'shake up' now, which is 'to make big changes to something.
Nouns commonly used with this application....
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Just as in the first application that we looked at where we shake something up in order to change or improve it, this second application is also used to express this same idea, however instead of liquids and ingredients, this time it is organisations.
To clarify, 'to shake something up' in this sense means to make important and often drastic changes to an organisation, usually with the aim of making it more efficient and successful.
Furthermore, I should highlight that when we use this, we are talking about major and often radical changes to how something is organised or run. It will probably come as no surprise to you to learn that this is one that you will often hear in business English.
An expression that is quite common to hear when using this application (and one that you may noted that I used at the start of the post) is "to shake things up".
On a grammatical level, as with the first application, this one is also separable and native speakers will use it both separably and inseparably, without any change in the meaning.
The new CEO plans to shake up the company by introducing a more flexible work culture.
The government is set to shake the education system up with major curriculum reforms.
The football club's management decided to shake up their approach to coaching after a disappointing season.
A major merger this year is expected to shake up the entire banking industry.
The director’s bold new vision has shaken the film industry up, challenging traditional storytelling methods.
This startup aims to shake up the tech world with its innovative approach to artificial intelligence.
In a bid to boost efficiency, the hospital administration is planning to shake up its management team.
The controversial policy changes have shaken the healthcare sector up, leaving many professionals uncertain about the future.
We have looked at how the company has been run for the past few years and can see that we need to shake things up if we want to stay in business.
THE NOUN 'SHAKE-UP'
As is often the case with phrasal verbs that describe common actions, there is often a noun that accompanies them to give a name to the action. In this case, we have the noun 'shake-up' (or shakeup in American English), which means a significant change in the way that something is organised or structured. This noun form can be used in any of the situations in which you use the phrasal verb application.
The company is undergoing a major shake-up in its management team to improve efficiency.
The government announced a shake-up of the education system to modernise teaching methods.
After a series of poor performances, the football club underwent a team shake-up ahead of the new season.
The tech industry is experiencing a shake-up due to rapid advancements in artificial intelligence.
MEANING 3: To make someone feel scared or shocked
CEFR Language Level | C1 - Advanced |
Usage | Common |
Where is it used? | Everywhere |
Potential synonyms | To upset, to shock |
Separable? | Always |
The third and final application of 'shake up' is one that we apply to people and means 'to make someone feel scared or shocked'.
Most people are lucky enough to live generally safe and stable lives, in which we can be calm and composed the majority of the time. Life is unpredictable though and we all go through negative experiences from time to time, which can make us feel scared, upset or shocked. When this happens, we can say that the experience has "shaken us up".
To put it another way, if something shakes you up, it removes the feeling of calmness and composure that you normally have and replaces it with feelings of shock and fear, meaning that you cannot think clearly or calmly. For example, this may happen if you are ever the victim of a crime, are involved in a car accident or learn some news about the death of a loved one.
On a grammatical note, while we can use this application in the active voice, with the negative experience shaking the person up, it is most commonly used in the passive sense to say that a person is shaken up after going through something unpleasant or horrible.
The murder shook up the residents of the area, making them fear that others would be killed.
Witnessing the robbery shook up the shop assistant and she struggled to speak to the police.
The train passengers were really shaken up by the accident.
The entire office was shaken up by the news of the CEO's sudden resignation.
The audience was shaken up by the terrifying scenes in the horror movie.
Claire was deeply shaken up after seeing her childhood home destroyed in the fire.
Peter was shaken up by the tragic news of his friend’s death.
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 about the phrasal verb 'shake up'. 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 'shake 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!!!
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THE END
Very Useful, as always
Outstanding work, as usual.