ENGLISH
REFERENCE

catch up with

phr. v..
B1 Intermediate Oxford

phr. v.. to talk to someone you haven't seen for a while to find out what has happened in their life.

phr. v.. to exchange news and information with an acquaintance after a period of separation; can also mean to reach the same level or position as someone ahead.


SIMPLE

I need to catch up with my old friends from college.

CONTEXTUAL

We should grab a coffee next week so I can finally catch up with everything you've been doing.

COMPLEX

Despite the time difference, she makes a concerted effort to catch up with her family via video calls every Sunday afternoon.

Particles
up with
Separability
inseparable
Pattern
catch + up + with + object
Usage

usually followed by a person as the object when used in a social sense.

Teaching tip

distinguish between the social sense (sharing news) and the physical/competitive sense (reaching someone who is ahead); the social sense is extremely common in daily conversation.

Pitfall

I caught up my sister yesterday.I caught up with my sister yesterday.the preposition 'with' is required when the person being met is mentioned as an object.

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