Phrasal Verb: Make up

Phrasal verbs can be a bit strange. The words make and up have their own meanings. But when they join, the meaning changes completely. This specific phrasal verb is "separable." This is a fancy way to say you can put words in the middle. You can say make up a story. You can also say make a story up. Both are correct! If you use a pronoun like it, you must put it in the middle. You must say make it up. You cannot say make up it. That sounds very weird to native speakers. It is like putting your socks over your shoes. It just does not fit! Most of the time, we use make up to talk about four things. These are imagination, friendship, beauty, and parts of a whole.

1. 1To use this phrasal verb correctly, follow these simple steps:
2. 2Start with your subject like I, You, or She.
3. 3Add the verb make. Remember to change it for the person. Use makes for he, she, or it.
4. 4Decide if you want to put the object in the middle or at the end.
5. 5Add the word up.
6. 6Add the rest of your sentence.
7. 7For example: I (subject) + make (verb) + up (particle) + excuses (object).
8. 8Or: I + make + excuses + up.
9. 9If you use the past tense, make becomes made. Yesterday, I made up a song. It is that simple!

There are four main times you should use make up.

First, use it for imagination. This means creating a story or a lie. Imagine you are late for a meeting. You tell your boss a dragon blocked the road. You made up a story! This is common in books and movies too. Authors make up characters every day.

Second, use it for friendship. Imagine you had a big fight with a friend. You were both angry. But today, you said sorry. Now you are friends again. You made up with your friend. This is a very happy use of the phrase.

Third, use it for beauty. This refers to lipstick, mascara, or powder. We call these things makeup as a noun. But the action is to put on makeup or to make up your face. It is what people do before a big party.

Fourth, use it for parts of a whole. Think of a soccer team. Eleven players make up the team. They are the pieces that form the group. You can use this for ingredients in a cake too.

Do not use make up for everything you create. If you build a table with wood, just use make. Do not say I made up a table. People will think you are dreaming about a table!

Do not use it for making food like coffee or a sandwich. You make coffee. You do not make up coffee. If you say I made up some coffee, a native speaker might think you invented a new type of bean!

Also, do not confuse it with make up your mind. That is a different idiom. It means to decide. It is related, but it is its own special phrase. Keep these separate in your head to avoid confusion.

One big mistake is the pronoun rule. Many people say make up it. Remember, it always goes in the middle. Say make it up.

Another mistake is forgetting the up. If you say I made a story, it sounds okay, but I made up a story is much better. It shows you used your imagination.

Sometimes people use make up when they mean fix. If your car is broken, you do not make it up. You fix it or repair it.

Finally, watch the spelling! The verb is two words: make up. The noun (the stuff for your face) is often one word: makeup. It is a small detail, but it makes you look like a genius! Even native speakers get this wrong on social media sometimes.

Let us compare make up with invent. They are very similar. You can invent a lightbulb. You can make up a story. Invent is usually for machines or new ideas. Make up is usually for stories or lies.

Compare it with reconcile. This is a very formal word. It means to become friends again. In a business meeting, you might say reconcile. With your best friend, you will always say make up.

Compare it with consist of. A team consists of players. A team is made up of players. Consist of sounds like a textbook. Made up of sounds like a real person talking.