The Phrasal Verb 'Live Up' Explained
- Phrasal Verbs Explained
- Jan 23
- 7 min read
An explanation of the different meanings of the English phrasal verb 'live up' from a native speaker, with lots of examples in context
Hello and welcome to my website for English learners all about phrasal verbs where I explain their different meanings to help you understand, learn and use them like a native.
This article is all about the phrasal verb 'live up' and its different meanings. This is not one of the most commonly used phrasal verbs in English, however it is definitely one that will help to elevate your English and make it sound more natural, so if you can master these, you will definitely impress people! In the post, I will explain its two distinct meanings and, as per usual, I will give you lots of example sentences in context. So, without further ado, let's make a start and see what the phrasal verb 'live up' has to offer....
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THE BASICS
LIVE UP: KEY INFORMATION
Usage | Common |
Number of meanings | 2 |
Past tense forms | Lived up / Lived up |
Separable? | Sometimes |
The phrasal verb 'live up' is formed of two very common words in English: the verb 'to live' and the prepositional particle 'on'. As a first step in our exploration of the phrasal verb 'live up', let's first familiarise ourselves with these two words and what they mean on their own.
Live - The verb 'to live' is verb that you will all know as it is one of the first verbs that English students learn to describe the place where their home is. In addition to the meaning of where someone calls home, we can also use the verb 'to live' to talk about the state of being alive (and not being dead). Note that the word 'live' also exists as an adjective (music, tv, etc) and for this that the pronunciation changes to a long 'i' sound, like with the pronoun 'I'.
I live in the countryside but I want to live in the city.
John has lived in Edinburgh for over 20 years.
Where do you live?
William Shakespeare lived from 1582 to 1616.
I will never forget this experience as long as I live!
Up - The prepositional particle 'up' is one that is regularly found in phrasal verb constructions and can add different ideas and elements to the main verb. These include a literal upward movement or increase (climb up, go up), completion (eat up), preparation (set up), connection (hook up) and collection (save up), among others.
So, now that we have covered the basics, let's move on to the different meanings of the phrasal verb 'live up'....
MEANING 1: To meet expectations
CEFR Language Level | B2 - Upper intermediate |
Usage | Common |
Where is it used? | Everywhere |
Potential synonyms | To meet expectations |
Separable? | No |
We are going to start off the meanings of the phrasal verb 'live up' with the most common of the two, which is 'to meet expectations'.
Nouns commonly used with this application....
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It may surprise you to know that for this first application of 'live up', we need the additional preposition 'to' in order to make it make sense, giving us the structure 'to live up to something'. Note that this word order is fixed and this is therefore not a separable usage.
One of the most natural things about being human is that we all want and desire things. Another aspect of our nature is that we also expect things, or in other words, we believe or think that something will happen or will be a certain way in the future, e.g. I expect that in the summer, the weather will be hot. When we combine these two elements, we arrive at the idea of wanting to have or do something and expecting it to be good and it is in these situations that we can use 'live up to'.
To clarify further, if there is something that you were looking forward to, such as going out to a nice restaurant for a meal or watching a new movie and the experience ended up being as good as you thought it would be, you could say that "it lived up to your expectations".
We can use this application for almost anything that we expect to be good in the future. This may be because people have recommended it, you have heard good things about it or maybe because you liked something similar in the past like a movie or a book in a series and you therefore think that the next one will be good.
Of course there are times that we set our expectations of something too high and things are not as good as we expect them to be. In these situations, native speakers frequently use this application of 'live up to' in the negative to express this.
The new Iphone has lived up to my expectations so far.
The hotel lived up to the reviews we read online; it was fantastic!
Our cleaner promised us excellent service, and he really lived up to it. The house is spotless!
The movie lived up to the hype surrounding it; I really enjoyed it!
The new vacuum cleaner didn’t live up to my expectations.
Unfortunately, this course has not lived up to what was advertised.
The restaurant was expensive and it definitely didn’t live up to its reputation.
The live music event never really lived up to the excitement that people were expecting.
In addition to expecting something to be enjoyable, we can also use 'live up to' to describe when someone or something achieves the high standards that people expect. This is most commonly found in a work scenario when an employer expects its employees to perform or to work to a high standard.
Sandra consistently lives up to the high standards expected of a senior manager.
The quality of Martin's work has lived up to the company’s strict standards.
Katy's performance lived up to the high standards of the company.
Michelle felt like she hadn’t lived up to the standards she set for herself.
MEANING 2: To have a partying lifestyle
CEFR Language Level | C1 - Advanced |
Usage | Medium |
Where is it used? | Everywhere |
Potential synonyms | To party, to enjoy yourself |
Separable? | Always |
The second and final of the two applications of the phrasal verb 'live up' is the least common of the two and means 'to have a partying lifestyle'.
Like with the previous application, we cannot simply use 'live up' on its own, however this time instead of adding a second preposition, we add the word 'it', giving us the expression 'to live it up'. Again, note that the word order in this expression is fixed and does not change.
If someone 'lives it up' or 'is living it up', it means that he or she is leading a lifestyle of partying, socialising and generally having fun in a carefree way.
Typically, this application is used to describe young people who move to big cities and enjoy all of the lifestyle opportunities that are available to them there. I don't know about you, but I certainly miss those days! We can also use it to talk about having fun just for a short period of time like a night or a vacation, although it is rarer to do this.
In his twenties, Peter lived it up, going to clubs every night and worrying about nothing but fun.
The two friends moved to the city to live it up, partying hard and avoiding any long-term commitments.
After making quick money, Emma lived it up, spending her nights at exclusive parties and festivals.
Roger was known for living it up; late nights, loud music, and zero concern for tomorrow.
We’re only in Paris for three days, so let’s live it up while we can.
After finishing her exams, Rachel went out with friends to live it up all weekend.
BONUS: ONE LAST NOTE ON USAGE
Lastly, there is one more time that you may see 'live up' being used, which is not technically a phrasal verb usage but I want to make you aware of it in case you come across it.
You may sometimes hear a native speaker saying someone "lives up the road" or "lives up the street". What they actually mean when they say this is that someone lives along the street or in a place close by that can be reached quickly.
My best friend has recently moved up the road, so we see a lot more of each other now.
We have now reached the end of this post and I just want to say thank you for clicking on my post and reading it. I hope that you've enjoyed it and have been able to learn something new about the phrasal verb 'live up'. If you enjoyed this post, please go ahead and check out some of my other posts.
Now it is YOUR turn. Can you think of a sentence yourself using 'live up'. Write it in the comments section below if you can, or alternatively any comments, suggestions or feedback that you may have....don't be shy!!!
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THE END
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