SIGN UP FOR YOUR FREE E-BOOK AND ENGLISH LEARNING MATERIALS
Turn Up, Show Up, Rock Up
Here you have materials and exercises to learn, practise and understand phrasal verbs with up for arrival and approach. Scroll down to the bottom of the article and you will find a video tutorial with a comprehension exercise. You will then find practice exercises and answer sheets on phrasal verbs with up for arrival and approach, all in PDF form. Read on and get learning!
Talking About Arrival and Approach with UP
English gives us many ways to say that somebody arrives or approaches. The interesting part is that changing just one verb can change the picture, attitude or feeling behind the sentence.
Consider these three:
turn up
show up
rock up
They can all mean arrive, but they do not always sound the same.
Turn up, show up or rock up?
The important thing is not to learn three fixed definitions. Instead, think about the connotation — the extra idea or attitude that a speaker may communicate.
Turn up: expectations and timekeeping
Turn up often connects an arrival with an expectation: Did the person arrive? When did they arrive?
He is always turning up late for class.
The important information here is not simply that he arrives. His timekeeping is part of the speaker's message.
However, turn up does not always mean arrive late:
Only ten people turned up for the meeting.
Here, the focus is simply attendance.
Show up: presence and appearance
Show up often puts more emphasis on somebody becoming present or making an appearance.
Oh, so you've finally decided to show up for work!
Depending on the situation and intonation, this could suggest that the person's arrival was unexpected, late or perhaps not guaranteed.
But again, the meaning can be neutral:
Everyone showed up for the meeting.
The context tells us how to interpret it.
Rock up: casual, bold or unexpected arrival
Rock up is much more informal. It can make an arrival sound very relaxed, confident or even slightly cheeky.
We rocked up to the party without an invitation, but the hosts let us in.
Arriving at a party without being invited is sometimes called gatecrashing, and rock up fits that kind of confident, informal situation well.
The key point is that these three expressions overlap. Your choice can tell the listener something about how you view the arrival.
From arrival to movement: what does up add?
The idea can be extended much further.
English frequently uses up when somebody or something moves towards a particular point and reaches or approaches it.
Sometimes this creates an established phrasal verb:
A taxi pulled up outside the hotel.
Pull up is commonly used when a vehicle arrives and stops.
We can also say:
They rolled up outside the club in an enormous car.
Roll up sounds more informal and can make the arrival seem noticeable or relaxed.
But English becomes even more flexible when the main verb describes how somebody approaches.
Horses and animals: walk, trot or gallop?
Imagine a horse approaching a gate.
Compare:
The horse walked up to the gate.
The horse trotted up to the gate.
The horse galloped up to the gate.
The destination stays the same. What changes is the manner of movement.
Walk gives us slow, ordinary movement.
Trot suggests a faster, rhythmic movement.
Gallop creates a much faster and more energetic image.
Instead of learning three completely separate expressions, notice the productive pattern:
movement verb + up to + endpoint
Change the verb and you change the scene.
People: choose the verb that matches the situation
The same pattern works extremely well with human movement.
Come up to
A general, neutral approach:
A woman came up to me and asked for directions.
Walk up to
Normal movement on foot:
He walked up to the reception desk and asked for a room.
Run up to
Faster movement, perhaps because of excitement or urgency:
The children ran up to their father when they saw him.
Stride up to
A stride is a long, confident step, so this can add attitude:
She strode up to the manager and demanded an explanation.
Compare that with walked up to. The basic direction is similar, but the speaker creates a very different picture.
Crawl up to
Very slow movement close to the ground:
The injured climber slowly crawled up to the entrance of the shelter.
Cycle up to
Arrival or approach by bicycle:
A cyclist cycled up to us and asked whether we needed help.
Drive up to
Approach in a vehicle:
A black car drove up to the entrance and stopped.
Fly up to
This can describe literal movement through the air:
The helicopter flew up to the landing area.
In more expressive contexts, fly can also suggest extremely rapid movement.
The principle remains the same: the verb tells us how the movement happens; the rest of the expression tells us where it is going.
Are they all phrasal verbs?
Not exactly — and this is a useful distinction at B2+/C1.
In turn up, show up, rock up and pull up, up works as part of an established multi-word verb.
But in:
She walked up to me.
walk still has its normal meaning. The phrase up to me describes the direction and endpoint of the movement.
So rather than trying to memorise everything containing up as one enormous phrasal-verb list, start looking for patterns.
Learn the meaning, then choose the picture
Compare:
Daniel arrived at the meeting.
Perfectly correct, but neutral.
Now compare:
Daniel turned up exactly on time.
Daniel finally showed up after three phone calls.
Daniel rocked up twenty minutes late carrying a takeaway coffee.
Daniel ran up to the entrance.
Daniel strode up to the receptionist.
All of these involve arrival or approach, but each creates a different impression.
That is the real value of learning vocabulary at B2+/C1: not simply knowing another expression for arrive, but choosing language that communicates movement, attitude, context and speaker perspective.
Now watch the video tutorial and do the exercises
Phrasal verbs with up for arrival and approach
Turn Up, Show Up & Rock Up
Video comprehension: watch the teaching section from 0:00 to 3:20 and answer the questions below.
Part 1 — Gist
1 What is the main point of the video?
Part 2 — Detailed comprehension
2 Why does the video say situation and connotation are important?
3 What does the video particularly associate turn up with?
4 According to the video, what can turn up communicate about somebody's timekeeping?
5 When might show up be especially appropriate?
6 What example does the video use to illustrate show up?
7 What sort of attitude can rock up suggest in the video?
8 Which example is used with rock up?
9 What conclusion does the video make about the three expressions?
Click to reveal the answer sheet
- C — All three can describe arrival, but context and connotation influence the speaker's choice.
- B — The choice of expression can communicate the speaker's attitude or interpretation of the arrival.
- C — Turn up is particularly associated in the video with timekeeping.
- C — The timekeeping implied by turn up can be positive, negative or neutral depending on context.
- A — Show up can highlight somebody becoming present, particularly when the appearance is unexpected.
- B — The video uses the example of a cousin appearing after being away for about ten years.
- C — Rock up can suggest a casual, opportunistic, arrogant or uninvited arrival.
- A — The example involves gatecrashers (uninvited people) arriving at a party.
- C — The basic meanings overlap, but speakers can use the different expressions to communicate additional connotations such as surprise or sarcasm.
Extra Practice
Phrasal verbs with up for arrival and approach
Verbs with UP: Arrival and Approach
Choose the correct answer from A–C, putting the verb in its correct form.
1 The lecturer is supposed to start at nine, but he always up ten or fifteen minutes late.
2 Nobody had heard from Mia for almost ten years, so everyone was amazed when she suddenly up at the family reunion.
3 Without an invitation, the three backpackers up at the formal reception in shorts and flip-flops and acted as if they owned the place.
4 Our taxi has just up outside the terminal, so we need to get our bags and go.
5 Everyone turned to look when the band members up outside the venue in a huge vintage limousine with the windows open and music playing.
6 She calmly and politely up to the reception desk slowly and asked the receptionist where the conference room was.
7 The rider slowed the horse down, so that it up to the judges at a steady, rhythmic pace.
8 As soon as the gates opened, the racehorse up to the finishing line at full speed, several lengths ahead of the others.
9 While I was waiting for the train, a stranger up to me and politely asked whether the seat beside me was free.
10 When the little boy saw his mother waiting outside the school, he up to her and threw his arms around her.
11 Looking completely confident, the lawyer up to the witness box with long, purposeful steps.
12 After injuring both legs in the fall, the climber was up to the entrance of the shelter on his hands and knees.
13 Every morning, Elena up to the university entrance on her bike, locks it to the railing and goes inside.
14 The security vehicle slowly up to the checkpoint, where the driver stopped and showed the guard his identification.
15 Because the road had been destroyed by the landslide, the rescue helicopter up to the isolated village and hovered above the football field.
16 As soon as the receptionist called her name, Sofia quickly up to the desk because she was afraid she might miss her appointment.
17 Trying not to wake the sleeping dog, Tom quietly up to the front door on tiptoe and slowly turned the key.
18 Furious that her complaint had been ignored for the third time, the customer up to the manager and demanded an explanation.
19 On the officer's command, the soldiers up to the main gate together in neat formation.
20 When Karim saw that the bus doors were already starting to close, he up to the stop as fast as he possibly could.
Click to reveal the answer sheet
- B — turns up
- A — showed up
- B — rocked up
- A — pulled up
- B — rolled up
- A — walked up
- B — trotted up
- A — galloped up
- B — came up
- A — ran up
- B — strode up
- C — crawling up
- A — cycles up
- B — drove up
- A — flew up
- B — rushed up
- A — crept up
- B — stormed up
- A — marched up
- B — sprinted up
Download the Lesson Materials here:
About the materials on this webpage and their reuse: This lesson is licensed under CC BY 4.0. You may copy, share and adapt it, including for your own learning materials, provided you credit the original author/source and indicate any changes.