Give up
1 Stop doing
Meaning
Stop doing something you do regularly, usually because it's considered a bad thing. It can also mean stop trying, abandon something you're trying to do.
Why up?
Up is used in some phrasal verbs when we reach a limit. When something is up, it's finished, it's completed or it stops.
Check out more phrasal verbs with the same preposition logic in Logic > up.
Collocations
So, what words go together with give up?
Examples
subject verb object
| I've decided to give up smoking. |
| He is trying to give up junk food. |
| I gave up drinking and it changed my entire life. |
| Giving up alcohol can be tough. |
| Giving up sugar is never easy. |
| You can't just give up. |
| She gave it all up for a man she loved. |
| Eventually the men gave up their search and left. |
| She never gave up hope that he would return. |
| He gave up his job three years ago and started travelling around the world. |
| She gave up her studies to become a model. |
| He gave up playing after a serious knee injury. |
| I gave up trying to understand. |
| Don't give up without a fight. |
| She gave up thinking it would never happen. |
Grammar
separable You can separate this phrasal verb. It can take an object. Someone gives something up, someone gives up something or someone gives up.
| I gave up smoking. |
| I gave it up. |
2 Give to someone else
Meaning
Stop using or owning something.
Why up?
Up is used in some phrasal verbs when we reach a limit. When something is up, it's finished, it's completed or it stops.
Check out more phrasal verbs with the same preposition logic in Logic > Up.
Examples
| He gave up his seat to the old man. |
| He was forced to give up his place on the committee. |
| Her teenage daughter kindly gave up her room for us. |
| They won't give up any territory without a fight. |
| The military government gave up power and democratic elections were held. |
| They used legal threats to force her to give up her right of appeal. |
| They will never give up control of the occupied territories. |
| Edward VIII gave up the throne for the woman he loved. |
Grammar
separable You can separate this phrasal verb. It can take an object. Someone gives something up, someone gives up something.
| I gave up her seat. |
| I gave it up. |