An explanation of the different meanings of the English phrasal verb 'back up', with lots of examples in context.
Hello and welcome to my website for English learners all about English phrasal verbs! Read on to learn more about the phrasal verb 'back up'...
If you are a regular user of computers, which many of you probably are, then the phrasal verb 'back up' is a phrasal verb that you are sure to recognise. However, do you know its other uses and meanings outside of the world of IT? For example, have you ever backed a friend or colleague up when they needed it or have you ever had a problem in your house caused by water backing up? Don't worry if not as in this post I will outline the different ways to use this "supportive" little phrasal verb and explain to you how to use it like a native speaker. So, without further ado, let's make a start....
BACK UP: KEY INFORMATION For an explanation of the terms in the table, click here.Â
Usage | Medium |
Number of meanings | 5 |
Separable? | Yes |
Past tense forms | Backed up / backed up |
MEANINGS (Click to jump to this meaning)
THE BASICS
To start the post, let's first look at the individual words 'back' and 'up' and what they mean on their own...
The English word 'back' will most likely be most familiar to you as an adverb and a noun; giving the idea of a reversing action or a return when used as an adverb and referring to the rear part of something, most commonly the part of the human body between the buttocks and the neck, as a noun. It may surprise you to learn that the verb 'to back' also exists in English and means to give support to something, such as an idea, a project, a plan, a cause or a political candidate or party. As well as that, it has a second, less common, meaning, which is 'to reverse or go backwards'.
Regular visitors to my website will be well aware of the usage of the prepositional particle 'up', which is used in phrasal verb constructions to add the idea of an increase or a movement towards a higher place, as well as the ideas of preparation, improvement and readiness, among others.
Ok, so now we have looked at the basics, let's take a look at the various meanings of the phrasal verb 'back up'....
MEANING 1: To support someone
CEFR Language Level | B2 - Upper intermediate |
Usage | Medium |
British or American? | Both |
Potential synonyms | To support, to help, to back |
Separable? | Yes |
As we have just established, the main meaning of the verb 'to back' is to give support to something and this first meaning of 'back up' is very much linked to it as it also means to support, however it tends to be used slightly differently.
When we 'back' something, we are saying that we agree with it and therefore support it in a passive way. However, with 'back up' we tend to take it one step further and give our support in a more active way, even being willing to take over from the person that we are backing up if necessary.
An example of this to illustrate it would be if a person wants to confront their boss at work but they don't feel comfortable doing it on their own, so they ask some colleagues to go with them to give them support in case they need it. In other words, to back them up. Here, we would not tend to use the verb 'to back' as we want the supporting person to be actively involved if possible.
From this meaning, we also get the noun 'backup' (or back-up), which refers to extra resources, equipment or people that can be called on for support when we need it. For example, the police always request backup in American TV shows and movies when they have a serious crime to deal with.
Going back to the phrasal verb 'back up', in addition to people, it can also be used for giving support to proposals and ideas. To clarify, if a proposal or an idea is put forward, it often requires some sort of action to confirm or support the idea and for this we can also use 'back up'.
Examples of usage....
I knew that the teacher was going to shout at me, so I made my friend come into the office with me to back me up.
The employee was backed up by his company during the court trial.
Don't worry Sergeant Smith, backup has been requested and will be with you shortly.
I took an extra pen into the exam for backup in case the ink ran out on the first one.
Your ideas are very promising, but they will need to be backed up by some positive actions before we can provide you with finance.
MEANING 2: To confirm that something is true
CEFR Language Level | B2 - Upper intermediate |
Usage | Medium |
British or American? | Both |
Potential synonyms | To corroborate, to confirm, to support, to substantiate |
Separable | Yes |
Let's continue with the theme of support for the next meaning of 'back up', which is 'to confirm that something is true'.
To give you an example, when I was younger, I was falsely blamed for taking my sister's chocolate bar from the fridge and eating it (shocking, I know!). She thought it was me and was very angry with me, despite my assurances to her that I hadn't taken it. Thankfully, my Dad backed me up by telling her that it wasn't me. He knew that it was my brother who had taken it and therefore was able to confirm the truth.
Of course, the example that I have just given you is a typical one that occurs in everyday life, however this application is also regularly used in the fields of science, research and criminal investigations. In all of these areas, in which hypotheses, theories and suspicions are routinely checked and tested, evidence is often required to confirm that they are true and the phrasal verb 'back up' is always used in these situations.
Grammatically, you may often see this application being used in the passive form (backed up by...), especially in the fields of science, research and statistics.
Examples of usage....
John, please can you back me up and tell Lisa that what I am saying is true.
When the teacher accused me of bullying another student, my best friend backed me up and said that I had not.
The witness' statement backs up what the victim said.
The team of scientists were overjoyed when the results of their recent experiment backed up the theory that they have been working on for several months.
These things do not exist and this has been backed up by science many times over the years.
MEANING 3: To make a copy of a computer file
CEFR Language Level | B2 - Upper intermediate |
Usage | Common |
British or American? | Both |
Potential synonyms | To save, to make a copy |
Separable? | Yes |
Nouns commonly used with | Data, files, work, apps, device, computer |
Along with receiving telephone calls from call centres trying to sell you something and siblings blaming you for stealing chocolate bars, one of the most annoying things that can happen to you is when you work very hard on something for a long time on your computer and then you lose all your work because you DIDN'T SAVE IT 🤬. This annoying occurrence brings us to the next meaning of the phrasal verb 'back up', which is 'to make a copy of a computer file'.
As you can probably guess, this usage of 'back up' is a relatively new one due to its link to computers, however it is quite widespread in modern English as IT is now an integral part of daily life, whether that be in our personal or working lives. It is common to hear this application of 'back up' used with nouns such as 'work' and 'files' as well as 'computers' and 'devices'.
Grammatically, this application of 'back up' is separable and you can 'back up your files' or 'back your files up' without any change in meaning.
Examples of usage....
My computer battery has just died, but luckily I had just backed up my work when it did, so hopefully I haven't lost anything.
Don't forget to back up your work before you log out.
She wasn't able to back up her files, so she lost them all when she shut her computer down.
It is important to back up your computer on a regular basis.
MEANING 4: To move backwards
CEFR Language Level | B2 - Upper intermediate |
Usage | Medium |
British or American? | Both - perhaps more American |
Potential synonyms | To reverse, to go back |
Separable? | Yes |
You may remember from earlier on in the post that I mentioned that another, less common, meaning of the verb 'to back' is 'to move backwards' or 'to reverse' and this fourth meaning of 'back up' derives directly from that as it means exactly the same, i.e. to move backwards. I would say though that 'back up' is actually used more commonly than just 'back' on its own when talking about reversing.
Most commonly, this application of 'back up' is used with cars as another way to say 'reverse' and this in particular sounds quite American to my ears, although you do still hear it used in this way in British English. When used with a vehicle, it is a separable usage with the vehicle either going between 'back' and 'up' or after them.
It is also possible to use 'back up' to talk about a person physically moving backwards, however this is normally only by a few footsteps. When used this way, we do not normally separate the phrasal verb as there is no direct object (vehicle). Furthermore, it is often used as an imperative to ask people to move backwards.
Examples of usage....
I backed the car up a few metres in order to let the other cars pass.
As Roger was backing the lorry up, he accidentally knocked over the signpost on the side of the road.
Backing up a car is one of the things that you will be instructed to do on your driving test to prove that you are a competent driver.
I was too close to the fire, so I backed up a few paces to where it was cooler.
Back up a bit please! These people need to get past.
MEANING 5: To gradually collect or accumulate
CEFR Language Level | C1 - Advanced |
Usage | Medium |
British or American? | Both |
Potential synonyms | To build up, to accumulate, to collect, to gather |
Separable? | No |
Our final meaning of 'back up' is one that can be heard being used in a few different areas of life to talk specifically about things that flow and it means 'to gradually collect or accumulate'.
The first thing to mention here is that this application of 'back up' is all about a process that takes place over time. It starts when there is a small amount of something and then over time more and more of it collects until there is so much of it that there is a negative consequence.
Let's take a look at some commonly used nouns with this usage of 'back up'....
Water - The nature of water and liquids in general is that they flow, whether that be down a river or along a pipe. Whenever there is a situation where the flow of water is blocked or obstructed in some way, it tends to accumulate behind the blockage, leading to problems once the accumulation is too big. This can often be heard when talking about water pipes in a building, sewers or also natural waterways such as rivers and streams.
Traffic - We often talk in English about the flow of traffic on our roads and highways. Like with water, whenever there is a blockage on the road, such as a car accident, then the traffic backs up behind it and a traffic jam forms. This is one that I am sure most of you know all too well.
Work - Although there isn't a physical flow with work like there is with water and traffic, there is still the idea of a flow of jobs and emails coming into a business and then leaving again once completed. As such, we can also use 'back up' with work to describe when we have too much work to do and cannot do it all straight away, meaning that there will be a delay due to the acculmuation of tasks that have to be done. It is quite common to hear this usage in a passive sense, i.e. to say that you are 'backed up'. Another noun that can be used here is backlog.
Hopefully you have got the main idea of this meaning of 'back up' from the examples given!
Examples of usage....
Due to a blockage in the pipe, the sewer was backed up and a specialist company had to come and resolve the issue.
Try and avoid the M5 motorway if possible as there has been an accident and the traffic is beginning to back up.
We are really backed up at the moment, so it may take a little longer than usual to receive a response from our team.
This brings us to the end of the post, so let's quickly recap the different meanings of 'back up' to ensure that they stick in your memory...
So firstly we had the idea of 'back up' used as a form of support, both by actively supporting someone in a situation and then by confirming that something is true. If you back up your files on a computer, it means that you have a copy of them in case you lose them in the future. 'Back up' can also be used to mean to reverse a vehicle or to move back a few paces and lastly, it can be used to describe something that accumulates so much that it causes a problem!
Now it is YOUR turn. Leave a comment on the blog post with your own sentence using 'back up' or any questions or comments that you have....don't be shy!
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