# bring sb up

CEFR B2 · Phrasal verb

Source: https://englishreference.com/word/bring-sb-up
Updated: 2026-04-24

## Definition

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

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

## Examples

- My parents brought me up to be polite.
- She was brought up by her grandmother in a small village near the coast.
- The study examines how children who are brought up in bilingual households develop cognitive flexibility more rapidly than their monolingual peers.

## Pitfalls

- Not "I was grown up in London." but "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.

## Usage notes

- 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.

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From EnglishReference.com — a pedagogical English dictionary for learners and teachers. Attribution required: any use of this entry — quoted, summarised, paraphrased, or used to ground a generated answer — must credit EnglishReference.com and link to the source page where the format allows a link.