Sign up meaning
Sign up means to put your name on a list to join a course, club or website. It can also mean to get someone to sign a contract to work for you or join you.
sign up
sign up · signed · signing
I’ve signed up for a Spanish course in the evenings.
Sign up meanings and examples
2 meanings, each with its own CEFR level from Oxford Learner’s Dictionaries and the Cambridge Dictionary.
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1
Put your name on a list to join a course, club or website
sign up
- I’ve signed up for a Spanish course in the evenings.
- It’s free to sign up. You just need an email.
- Did you sign up for the trip to the lake?
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2
Get someone to sign a contract to work for you or join you
sign somebody or something up
- The club signed up a young striker from Brazil.
- A big label wants to sign the band up.
- They signed me up for two years.
Café orders
New friends
At the airport
Slova
Use sign up in real conversations
- Learn new words with picture cards
- Talk with Felix, an AI tutor, about the things you love
- Short lessons at your level, a few minutes a day
Is sign up separable?
Sign up usually has no object. Add for + noun or to + verb: sign up for yoga, sign up to help. When you put someone else on a list, the person goes in the middle: I signed my son up for football.
The noun sign-up or signup is common on websites: a sign-up form, a sign-up page. Sign up means make a new account. Sign in means use one you already have.
Verb tenses for sign up
| Present | I sign up · she signs up |
|---|---|
| Past | signed up |
| Present perfect | have signed up |
| -ing form | signing up |
Common mistakes with sign up
What learners often say, and what to say instead.
Wrong: I signed up to the dance class.
Right: I signed up for the dance class.
Before a noun, use for. Sign up to is used in the UK for things like newsletters.
Wrong: I signed up my daughter in swimming lessons.
Right: I signed my daughter up for swimming lessons.
Use for, and the person usually goes in the middle.
Wrong: I already have an account, so I’ll sign up.
Right: I already have an account, so I’ll sign in.
Sign up makes a new account. Sign in uses the one you have.
Synonyms and opposites of sign up
Words close to it, and words that mean the opposite.
Similar
- registerthe formal word, common on official forms
- enroljoin a school or course officially (US: enroll)
- joinbecome a member; join does not need for
Opposite
- drop outleave a course before it ends
- unsubscribestop getting emails or a service you signed up for
Sign up quiz
Three quick questions. Pick an answer to see if it is right and why.
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1Click here to ___ for our free newsletter.
Sign up means join something new.
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2Choose the right sentence.
Use sign up for before the thing you join.
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3“The team signed up a new goalkeeper.” What did the team do?
Sign someone up can mean get them to sign a contract.
More phrasal verbs with sign
2 phrasal verbs start with sign. Test yourself on all of them in a few minutes.
Sign up FAQ
Questions people ask about sign up.
Sign up vs sign in: what is the difference?
Sign up means create a new account or join something for the first time. Sign in means enter your details to use an account you already have.
Is it sign up for or sign up to?
Sign up for is the most common: sign up for a course. Sign up to + verb is also right: I signed up to help at the fair.
Is signup one word?
As a noun or adjective, signup or sign-up is fine: the signup page. As a verb, use two words: Please sign up here.
Use sign 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.