Learning Phrasal Verbs “Make Up”

Since phrasal verbs are commonly used in English, and it often brings confusion among the learners of English language, we shall discuss some of the most common ones. The thing is, one phrasal verbs may contain a number of different meaning. You must be familiar with “make up” as a phrasal verb which have equal meaning to cosmetics. However, have you been familiar with its other functions and meanings?

We list some use of phrasal verb “make up” in different meanings coming together with examples on how to use it.

to compensate something lost

For example Mary planned to take her kids to the amusement park on Wednesday, but then she’s got an urgent work calling so that she has to cancel her plan. In that case, Mary wanted to go to the park on the weekend. Here’s what she might say to her kids:

“I’ll make up a time for the amusement park on the weekend. I promise.”

to apply cosmetics

This is one thing that almost everyone is familiar with. If a woman put on a make up, then she must be applying cosmetics (powder, lipstick, eye liner, etc). We can give you an example of a conversation between a father and his kid hurrying to the car in order to attend a party. They’re probably waiting for the mother to show up in the front door, when the father ask: where is your mom? Guess what the kid is saying!

“Mom is making herself up at the dressing table.”

to invent a story

Let’s think of a girl who is standing in front of her classmates. Her teacher told her to tell a tale, but she doesn’t know any. Everyone is waiting for her to say something so she should think fast. Luckily, she has a good imagination. An image of a kingdom with a king and a queen popped up in her head and she quickly create a story about them.

She makes up a story of a king and a queen!

to be reconciled

Now, this is the last one. A couple had a fight recently because the man forgot the date of their anniversary. He was sorry and would like to apologize to his wife in a nice manner. This is what he probably want to say:

“I’m sorry, honey. Let’s make up and have a dinner out!”

Those are four examples of using phrasal verb “make up” in four different meanings. Can you make your own sentences? Perhaps you’ve found some other meanings that come up with phrasal verb “make up”.