Phrasal verb
up to sth
Definition
phrasal verb. to be doing something, especially something secret or bad.
phrasal verb. to be occupied with or engaged in an activity; frequently carries a negative prosody implying mischief, secrecy, or illicit behavior.
Examples
“What are those kids up to in the garden?”
“He looks very guilty, so I am sure he is up to something he shouldn't be doing.”
“The investigators suspected the firm was up to some creative accounting to hide their recent losses from the shareholders.”
Examples
simple
“What are those kids up to in the garden?”
contextual
“He looks very guilty, so I am sure he is up to something he shouldn't be doing.”
complex
“The investigators suspected the firm was up to some creative accounting to hide their recent losses from the shareholders.”
Usage
usually used in questions or with indefinite pronouns like 'something', 'anything', or 'nothing'.
Teaching tip
distinguish between the neutral 'What are you up to?' (meaning 'What are you doing?') and the suspicious 'What are you up to?' which implies mischief based on tone and context.
Pitfall
What are you up to do?
What are you up to?
the phrase functions as a predicate adjective or phrasal verb and does not take an infinitive verb after 'to'.
Phrasal verb
Particles
up to
Separability
inseparable
Pattern
be + up + to + object