ENGLISH
REFERENCE

count up

phr. v..
A2 Elementary Oxford

phr. v.. to add a group of things or people together to find the total number.

phr. v.. to calculate the sum of a collection of items or individuals by enumerating them one by one.


SIMPLE

The teacher counts up the students before the bus leaves.

CONTEXTUAL

At the end of the night, the shop owner counts up the money in the register to check the profits.

COMPLEX

After the ballots were collected, the committee spent several hours counting up the votes to ensure the final tally was perfectly accurate.

Particles
up
Separability
optional
Pattern
count + (object) + up
Usage

often used when you have a physical pile of things to check.

Teaching tip

contrast with 'count on' (to rely) or 'count down' (to wait for an event); 'count up' emphasizes the process of reaching a total.

Pitfall

He counts up of the coins.He counts up the coins.the verb is transitive and takes the object directly without the preposition 'of'.

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