The Phrasal Verb 'Turn Up' Explained
- Phrasal Verbs Explained
- Jun 16, 2023
- 11 min read
Updated: 1 day ago
An explanation of the different meanings of the English phrasal verb 'turn 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.
The subject of this post is the phrasal verb 'turn up'. I have recently done a post about its phrasal verb opposite, 'turn down', so if you can remember the different meanings of that, then you should find some of the meanings of 'turn up' nice and simple as they are just the reverse. You will note that I said 'some' of the meanings as there are others that are completely unrelated to 'turn down' - that would be too easy! So without further ado, let's have a look at them....
TABLE OF CONTENTS (Click to jump to each one)
The Basics: Key information and the individual words 'turn' and 'up'
Meaning 1: Literal
Meaning 2: To increase the intensity of something
Meaning 3: To arrive unexpectedly
Meaning 4: To be found
Meaning 5: To become available unexpectedly
Meaning 6: To fold or modify clothes
Meaning 7: To turn onto a different road or path
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THE BASICS
TURN UP: KEY INFORMATION
Usage | Common |
Number of meanings | 7 |
Past tense forms | Turned up / Turned up |
Separable? | Sometimes |
The phrasal verb 'turn up' consists of the verb 'to turn' and the prepositional particle 'up' and so before we start exploring the meanings of the phrasal verb, let's first look consider each of these words on their own.
The verb 'to turn' is a common verb with various meanings, including to change direction, to move in a circular path and to transform from one thing into another. It is a commonly used verb in English and you will find it regularly appearing in a lot of different phrasal verbs because we often require extra directional or spatial information to clarify the action of 'turning' e.g. 'turn around', 'turn over' or 'turn back'.
John turned right and then left.
The world won't stop turning if you take a day off work.
Turn the key to unlock the door.
The leaves on the trees turn red in autumn.
In conjunction with 'turn', we have the prepositional particle 'up', meaning in the direction away from the ground or towards the sky ↑. 'Up' is frequently used in phrasal verb constructions and can add different ideas, such as to move in an upwards direction (climb up), increasing (go up), preparation (warm up) and sudden changes (wake up), among others.
So, now that we have covered the basics, let's move on to the real reason that you are here, i.e. the different meanings of 'turn up' as a phrasal verb....
MEANING 1: Literal
CEFR Language Level | A2 - Elementary |
Usage | Medium |
Where is it used? | Everywhere |
Potential synonyms | To turn, to face up |
Separable? | Yes |
The first meaning of 'turn up' that I want to cover is the literal meaning, which you have probably guessed, is simply to turn or rotate something so that it is facing upwards.
Nouns commonly used with this application....
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As this one is quite self-explanatory, I don't want to spend too much time on this, but I do want to give you some typical examples of usage, which are turning your head up, so that you are looking in the direction of the sky and turning playing cards up, so that the face of the card is visible. In both of these examples however, it should be noted that other synonyms are often used, such as 'look up' turning your head and 'turn over' for the cards.
Lucy turned her face up to feel the warmth of the sun.
Michael turned up his collar to protect himself from the cold wind.
As the rain started falling, Natalie turned up her hood to stay dry.
Adam turned up the brim of his hat to get a better view.
The tarot reader asked me to turn up two of the cards that facing down on the table.
MEANING 2: To increase the intensity of something
CEFR Language Level | B1 - Intermediate |
Usage | Common |
Where is it used? | Everywhere |
Potential synonyms | To increase |
Separable? | Yes |
This next meaning of 'turn up' is one of the most commonly used meanings of this phrasal verb and means to increase the intensity of something such as the volume, temperature or power of a device.
Nouns commonly used with this application....
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It may be quite obvious to you, but just in case it is not, this meaning is derived from when we turn a dial to a higher number on a device (up), thus increasing its level of output or energy.
As you can imagine, it is often used to refer to household appliances and machines that have settings that can be made more or less intense (turned up or down).
For this meaning, 'turn up' is used transitively, meaning that it requires a direct object, which is the noun or pronoun whose intensity we want to increase. The direct object noun can either be placed between 'turn' or 'up' or after them, without changing the meaning 😊
I was so cold in my house, so I turned up the central heating.
Please can you turn the television up as I can barely hear it.
Elizabeth turned up the heater because the room was too cold.
Harry turned up the brightness on his phone so that he could see his screen better.
I LOVE THIS SONG!
Although we can and do use 'turn up' to describe the action of increasing the intensity of many different nouns, the most common usage is probably with the noun 'volume'. For this reason, if you hear a native speaker say "turn it up", it is highly likely that what they actually mean is "turn the volume up" or "make it louder and this is usually when he or she likes a song that is being played!
I love this song! Turn it up!
Can you turn up the volume a bit. I can barely hear it!
MEANING 3: To arrive unexpectedly
CEFR Language Level | B2 - Upper Intermediate |
Usage | Common |
Where is it used? | Everywhere |
Potential synonyms | To show up, to arrive, to appear |
Separable? | No |
So, now we are on to our first truly idiomatic meaning of 'turn up', which is to arrive or to appear somewhere, often (but not always) at an unexpected time or in an unexpected manner. In other words, we can use 'turn up' as a synonym for the verb 'to arrive', but we tend to use it more when there is something unplanned or surprising about the arrival.
Examples of this unconventional arrival could be the following....
the person arrives unexpectedly, without forewarning or invitation
the person arrives earlier or later than planned or requested
there is something funny, surprising or unexpected about the person when they arrive
Although I have specifically stated a person in the examples above, it is also absolutely fine to use this with objects when talking about deliveries etc.
All of the guests turned up for the party, bar one.
My parents turned up just as I was about to leave the house to go shopping.
Lisa's car broke down on her way to work and she eventually turned up there at 11am.
John mistakenly thought that the party was fancy dress, so he turned up wearing a Superman outfit, much to everyone's amusement.
My neighbour turned up on my doorstep last night in floods of tears as her dog was missing.
MEANING 4: To be found
CEFR Language Level | B2 - Upper Intermediate |
Usage | Medium |
Where is it used? | Everywhere |
Potential synonyms | To be found, to show up |
Separable? | No |
This third meaning of 'turn up' simply means to be found. This often refers to when we unexpectedly find something that was previously hidden or lost. When we use 'turn up' in this way, it is usually because we have given up on finding the lost item and don't think we will ever see it again. Of course, we can use the verb 'to find' as a synonym here, however 'turn up' adds an extra layer of nuance in the form of unexpectedness or surprise. Sometimes, it can also be used to convey a bit mystery to the reappearance of the lost item.
Alternatively, if something is lost, but we are confident that we will find it again at some unknown point in the future, it is equally common to say that "it will turn up". By using 'turn up' rather than 'find', we are saying that we are perhaps not actively going to look for the missing item and it will magically appear in the future.
We thought we had lost our cat Arthur when he disappeared. Thankfully he turned up at the house again a week later and we still have no idea where he had been.
The stolen car turned up abandoned on a roadside 10km away from where it had been stolen.
I've lost my favourite socks. They must be in the house somewhere but I'm not worried as they are bound to turn up.
MEANING 5: To become available unexpectedly
CEFR Language Level | C1 - Advanced |
Usage | Medium |
Where is it used? | Everywhere |
Potential synonyms | To become available |
Separable? | No |
For this fourth meaning of 'turn up', we are staying with the familiar theme of something happening unexpectedly, however this time we are talking about unforeseen opportunities or situations that arise when you are looking for something.
Nouns commonly used with this application....
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As you can see from the list above, this application is used with nouns for things that we have to search for in our lives and are not always available when we want them. Regardless of what the noun itself is, the main point here is that when the opportunity of finding one arises, it is unexpected in some way. This is often as it is when we have started to lose hope of success and are thinking about giving up.
Moreover, if we want to offer some encouragement to someone who is having difficulty finding a job for example, we can say that "something will turn up". Equally, when talking about a time in the past when a new unexpected opportunity arose, we can say that something "turned up".
My son has been looking for a job since graduating from uni and he has had no luck so far, but I'm sure something will turn up soon.
They say that the love of your life normally turns up when you least expect it.
That book I’d been looking for finally turned up in a second-hand store.
A great job opportunity turned up just when Patricia was about to give up searching.
After weeks of searching, a rental apartment finally turned up in Louise's budget.
Something interesting always turns up when you're not looking too hard.
MEANING 6: To fold or modify clothes
CEFR Language | C1 - Advanced |
Usage | Medium |
Where is it used? | Everywhere |
Potential synonyms | To fold up, to unfold |
Separable? | Yes |
This next meaning of 'turn up' is specific to clothing and logically links back to the literal meaning of the phrasal verb that we looked at earlier in the post. This meaning specifically means to fold parts of clothes, normally the bottoms of trouser legs, upwards in order to make them shorter, so that they fit the owner better. The part of the garment is literally turned upwards.
In everyday speech it is normal to use this in a passive sense and say that you are "getting something turned up" when the garment to be modified is with the tailors.
In addition to this, if something is already folded downwards such as the corner of a piece of paper or a collar on a garment, we also say that we "turn it up" when we unfold it.
I have sent my new suit to the tailors to get it turned up before the wedding next week.
There was a chill in the air and so I turned up the collar on my winter coat.
Before sewing, Sally pinned the skirt where she wanted to turn it up.
My grandmother taught me how to turn up a pair of pants properly.
She turned up the hem of her dress to make it more suitable for summer.
He had to turn up his trousers because they were too long for him.
MEANING 7: To turn onto a different road or path
CEFR Language Level | C1 - Advanced |
Usage | Medium |
Where is it used? | British English |
Potential synonyms | Turn on(to), turn down |
Separable? | No |
The last meaning that I want to bring to your attention is one that I also looked at in my post about the phrasal verb 'turn down' (link here) as it means the same thing, which is to turn from one road or path onto another and then continue straight along it (confusing, I know!).
Native speakers, typically British ones, use both 'turn up' and 'turn down' here interchangeably and there is no discernible difference in meaning that I am aware of; it is just the speaker's choice. It can also be noted that it can be used both for travel by vehicle as well as on foot. By contrast, you are more likely to hear American native speakers and those from other English speaking nations using a synonym like 'turn on' or 'turn onto' here.
We turned up the road towards the church and realised that it was the wrong road
You need to turn up that narrow track after the second gate.
He turned up the hill and disappeared into the fog.
They turned up the side street to avoid the traffic on the main road.
Just turn up the next road on your left; it's a shortcut to the beach.
Beth turned up a quiet little alleyway she hadn’t noticed before.
Turn up that gravel path and you’ll see the cabin at the top.
After the petrol station, turn up the next street on your right.
COMMON IDIOMS AND EXPRESSIONS WITH 'TURN UP'
It would be rude of me to finish this post without also giving you some common expressions in which the phrasal verb 'turn up' is used, so here are a few for you....
To turn your nose up at something = This idiom means to show disapproval of something or to refuse something in a judgemental way, often when the person believes that something is not good enough for them. It is often used in reference to snobby or arrogant people but can also be used for fussy cats like mine who occasionally turn their noses up at the food they are given to eat.
My cat Henry will eat anything but my other cat Arthur only likes one type of cat food and turns his nose up at anything else.
The snobby lady turned her nose up when she was offered the cheap wine.
A turn up for the books! = This is an idiomatic expression in British English and is used to describe a very unexpected but pleasing surprise. The roots of this idiom can be traced back to betting on horses as the records of bets were kept by people called bookmakers (colloquially known as bookies) in 'books' and if something unexpected (that word again!) happened, then some lucky gamblers would be very happy!
I can't believe I got the job out of 100 applicants; what a turn up for the books!
To turn up out of the blue = This expression is very common when talking about someone or something which appears or arrives completely unexpectedly, almost as if they suddenly appear out of the blue sky or from the blue ocean. It is possible to use "out of the blue" on its own without 'turn up' and the meaning would be more or less the same.
After signing up to a family tree website, a cousin who I had never heard of before suddenly turned up out of the blue.
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 'turn 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 'turn 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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