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Add up meaning

Add up means to put numbers together to get the total. It can also mean to slowly grow into a large amount.

Check yourself: 3 questions

add something up

add up · added · adding

B1Separable+2 more meanings

Can you add up how much we spent on food?

Add up meanings and examples

3 meanings, each with its own CEFR level. A level marked ~ is our estimate: Oxford and Cambridge give none for that meaning.

  1. 1put numbers together to get the total
  2. 2slowly grow into a large amount
  3. 3seem true or make sense, often used with not
  1. 1

    Put numbers together to get the total

    add something up

    B1Separable

    • Can you add up how much we spent on food?
    • I added up the bill twice and got two different answers.
    • Write down your scores and add them up at the end.
  2. 2

    Slowly grow into a large amount

    add up

    B2No object

    • A coffee every day doesn’t seem much, but it adds up.
    • Small savings really add up over a year.
    • Those late nights are starting to add up.
  3. 3

    Seem true or make sense, often used with not

    add up

    B2No object

    • His story doesn’t add up. He said he was at home.
    • Something about this email just doesn’t add up.
    • Suddenly everything added up and I understood why she left.
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Is add up separable?

When add up means find the total, it is separable: add up the prices or add the prices up. With a pronoun, the pronoun goes in the middle: add them up, not add up them.

Add up to is a different pattern. It gives the total and is not separable: The bill adds up to forty euros.

Verb tenses for add up

PresentI add up · she adds up
Pastadded up
Present perfecthave added up
-ing formadding up

Common mistakes with add up

What learners often say, and what to say instead.

  • Wrong: Here are the receipts. Can you add up them?

    Right: Here are the receipts. Can you add them up?

    A pronoun goes between add and up.

  • Wrong: The total adds up forty euros.

    Right: The total adds up to forty euros.

    Use add up to before the final number.

  • Wrong: His excuse is not adding up for me.

    Right: His excuse doesn’t add up.

    In the make sense meaning, use the simple form, usually with doesn’t.

Synonyms and opposites of add up

Words close to it, and words that mean the opposite.

Similar

Opposite

  • take awaysubtract one number from another
  • splitdivide a total between people, like a bill

Add up quiz

Three quick questions. Pick an answer to see if it is right and why.

  1. 1Let’s ___ the cost of the trip before we book it.

  2. 2Choose the right sentence.

  3. 3“The money is gone, and he says he was never in the office. It doesn’t add up.” What does the speaker mean?

Find your level

The phrasal verbs test adapts as you answer, from A2 to C1, and shows which ones you miss.

Test yourself on add upTake the full test

Add up FAQ

Questions people ask about add up.

What does it doesn’t add up mean?

It means the facts do not fit together, so you think something is wrong or someone is not telling the truth. Her reasons for quitting just don’t add up.

What is the difference between add up and add up to?

You add up numbers to find a total. The numbers add up to the total: I added up the bill. It added up to 60 dollars.

What does it all adds up mean?

People say it all adds up when many small costs or problems become a big one together. Taxis every day? It all adds up.

Use add up in real conversations

In Slova you learn new words with picture cards, then use them when you talk about the things you love. A few minutes a day, at your level.

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