ENGLISH
REFERENCE

bring sb up

phr. v..
B2 Upper Intermediate Oxford

phr. v.. to care for a child and teach them how to behave until they are an adult.

phr. v.. to raise a child; to provide the necessary care, education, and moral guidance during a child's development into adulthood.


SIMPLE

My parents brought me up to be polite.

CONTEXTUAL

She was brought up by her grandmother in a small village near the coast.

COMPLEX

The study examines how children who are brought up in bilingual households develop cognitive flexibility more rapidly than their monolingual peers.

Particles
up
Separability
optional
Pattern
bring + object + up
Usage

often used in the passive voice ('be brought up') to describe someone's childhood background.

Teaching tip

contrast with 'grow up' (the child's own action) to help students avoid using 'bring up' as an intransitive verb.

Pitfall

I was grown up in London.I was brought up in London.use 'bring up' in the passive for the action of being raised; 'grow up' is what the child does and cannot be passive.

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