Phrasal verb
catch up with
Definition
phrasal verb. to talk to someone you haven't seen for a while to find out what has happened in their life.
phrasal verb. 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.
Examples
“I need to catch up with my old friends from college.”
“We should grab a coffee next week so I can finally catch up with everything you've been doing.”
“Despite the time difference, she makes a concerted effort to catch up with her family via video calls every Sunday afternoon.”
Examples
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.”
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.
Phrasal verb
Particles
up with
Separability
inseparable
Pattern
catch + up + with + object
Synonyms
Antonyms
Grammar
Scan code
englishreference.com/q/catch-up-with