build up

To increase gradually or develop something stronger over a period of time. It can refer to physical things, skills, confidence, pressure, or relationships that grow little by little.

Type

Separable phrasal verb.

Notes

When 'build up' is used with a noun object, the noun can appear either between the two parts or after 'up': 'She built up her confidence' and 'She built her confidence up' are both correct. However, when the object is a pronoun, it must go between the verb and the particle: say 'She built it up,' never 'She built up it.'

Conjugation

Narrative

Marco had always been te of public speaking. In January, he signed up for a local toastmasters club, not to give speeches, but just to watch. By February, he was introducing himself. By April, he was delivering two-minute talks. His mentor, Dana, re him every week that there were no shortcuts — each s session was building up a layer of confidence he hadn't had before. By June, Marco stood in front of forty strangers and s for eight minutes without notes. S , he wasn't cured of fear, b he had bu enough courage to face it. Ev , his hands still shook a little.

Register

Informal

In 1934, a twenty-five-year-old Soichiro Honda was working as a mechanic in Hamamatsu, Japan, repairing cars and racing them on weekends. He had no university degree and almost no capital. Rahan launch a company immediately, he spent years studying engineering part-time at Hamamatsu Technical High School while running his repair shop. He exted with piston ring manufacturing in his own backyard, failing repeatedly — Toyota rejected his first prototypes as un . In quitting, Honda re his process, invested back into the workshop, and gradually won a supply contract with Toyota in 1941. After the war, in 1948, he founded Honda Motor Co. with that ha technical knowledge and a reputation earned one small improvement at a time. His story is a pr illustration of what bu means in practice: not a single breakthrough, b a deliberate, patient accumulation of skill, credibility, and resources over more than a decade before the world took notice.

To reconcile with someone after a disagreement or argument; also, to invent a story or excuse that is not true; or to do something to compensate for a loss, mistake, or missed opportunity.

Type

Separable phrasal verb.

Notes

When 'make up' is used with an object, the verb and particle can be separated: 'She made a story up' or 'She made up a story' are both correct. However, when the object is a pronoun, it must go between the verb and particle: say 'She made it up,' not 'She made up it.' When the meaning is 'to reconcile,' the verb is typically used without a direct object or with 'with': 'They made up' or 'He made up with her.'

Conjugation

Narrative

Priya and her college roommate Jen hadn't spoken in two weeks — not since the argument over whose turn it was to pay the electricity bill. It was Priya who finally b first. She knocked on Jen's bedroom door one Tuesday evening, holding two mugs of chamomile tea. 'I was p ,' she said simply. 'I'm sorry.' Jen looked at the tea, then at Priya, and something in her face so . They sat on the ki floor for an hour, talking through the real frustrations underneath the fight. B midnight, they had ma , a the bill — split evenly — was paid. S , two mugs of tea turned out to be exactly enough.

Register

Informal

On the night of November 9, 1989, East and West Germany were on the verge of something that had seemed impossible for twenty-eight years. The Berlin Wall, built in 1961, had physically and politically divided families, neighbors, and a nation. When East German authorities unexpectedly announced that citizens could cross the border freely, thousands of people fl the checkpoints. Families who had been separated for decades em on Checkpoint Charlie and at the Brandenburg Gate. Siblings who had grown up on opposite sides of a co barrier — some who had not spoken in years, others who had never met their own relatives — stood together on the rubble of a wall being to by ordinary hands. The reunification process was not pa ; economic and cultural tensions between East and West Germans persisted for years. B November 9 represented a genuine, historic turning point: a broken relationship between two halves of a people beginning the slow, di work of healing. S , it is one of history's most dramatic examples of what it means to ma — not just between two people, b between two entire ways of life.

To cut down means to reduce the amount or frequency of something, especially a habit or activity that you do too much. It suggests making a gradual or deliberate decrease rather than stopping completely.

Type

Separable phrasal verb.

Notes

When 'cut down' is used with a direct object (a noun), the object can appear either between 'cut' and 'down' or after 'down' — for example, 'cut down your expenses' or 'cut your expenses down.' However, when the object is a pronoun, it must go between the two parts: 'cut them down,' never 'cut down them.' When followed by 'on,' the phrase becomes 'cut down on' and is not separated.

Conjugation

Narrative

Maria had always driven everywhere — to the supermarket, to her sister's flat, even to the corner shop two streets away. B when petrol prices surged in the spring, she sat down with her monthly bank statements and felt a fa dread. She ma her usual routes and realized she was making over forty short car trips a week. She decided to cut down on unary journeys, re anything under two kilometres with walking or cycling. Three weeks in, she was sleeping better, spending less, a actually enjoying the route past the canal on Tuesday mornings. S , the car, she figured, could wait — she had learned to cu without really missing it.

Register

Neutral

In the early 1970s, the United States was consuming roughly a third of the world's oil while facing mounting economic strain. When OPEC im its oil embargo in October 1973, cutting supplies to the US and triggering panic at petrol stations, President Richard Nixon addressed the nation on November 7, 1973, and announced a package of ur measures. Americans were asked to lower thermostat settings, reduce highway speeds to 55 mph, and — crucially — cut down on car travel wherever possible. Me , airlines were directed to reduce flights; offices were told to dim their lights. The 55 mph speed limit became federal law in 1974 and remained in force until 1995. What began as a crisis response re American habits for a generation: carpooling grew, smaller cars gained popularity, and the idea that consumption could — and sometimes must — be deely reduced entered mainstream political life. The embargo lasted only five months, b its lesson endured. Noess , nations, like individuals, sometimes need a sharp external pressure before they genuinely commit to cuown on what they had always taken for granted.

To use all of something so that there is none left; to have no more of something available. When you run out of something, you have used or consumed the last of it.

Type

Inseparable phrasal verb.

Notes

"Run out" is inseparable when used in its core meaning. The object always follows the preposition "of": say "We ran out of water" — never "We ran water out." The phrase "run out" cannot be split by placing the object between "run" and "out."

Conjugation

Narrative

Marta was two hours into her solo road trip across rural Portugal when her phone buzzed a low-battery warning. She'd forgotten her car charger. Worse, she suddenly realised she'd also ru of cash — the last village had no ATM. She pulled over near an olive grove and th calmly: the next town was thirty kilometres ahead. She fl down a passing driver, explained in br Portuguese, and borrowed a pen to write down directions to a petrol station with a money exchange. S crisis, small solution. S , she was back on the road in twenty minutes, th still a little shaken. Ev , she laughed about it later.

Register

Neutral

In August 1914, the British Expeditionary Force re from Mons, Belgium, after holding against oving German forces. By the time units reached Le Cateau, many soldiers had run critically low on ammunition — some battalions had fired over 400 rounds per man in a single day. At the Battle of Le Cateau on August 26th, General Sir Horace Smith-Dorrien made the coial decision to turn and fight rather than continue retreating, partly because exhausted troops could not outrun the enemy, and partly because supply lines had broken down so severely that some units had effectively exhausted their reserves. The battle cost the British nearly 8,000 casualties b bo precious time for the main retreat to continue. Military historians point to this episode as a s example of how running out of essential supplies — ammunition, food, rest — forces commanders into decisions they would never otherwise make. Th a resource ru in the field, options collapse rapidly.