Catch up one word or two

When using “catch up” as either a verb or noun, it would help to know how to spell it. That’s where this article comes in. We’ll teach you whether it’s written as one or two words or whether the hyphenated form of “catch-up” is sufficient.

“Catch up” is most commonly written as two words. We use it in this form when it is a phrasal verb and is an extension of the root verb “to catch.” We can also write “catch-up” in the hyphenated form when it is either a noun or an adjective.

According to Google Ngram Viewer, “catch up” is the most popular choice of the three. This shows that you are more likely to come across the phrasal verb in English than any other variation.

In The Cambridge Dictionary and The Oxford Dictionary, “catch up” is defined clearly by both as a phrasal verb. They both mention that it comes from the root “to catch” and that the two-word variation is appropriate in this way.

Both dictionaries also mention the hyphenated form of “catch-up.” They write that it is correct as a noun or adjective when it is modifying another noun in the sentence.

These examples might help you to figure out the key differences.

• Adjective: The catch-up channel is off-air for a little while.
• Verb: If you’re going to catch up with her, you’ll want to leave now.

Is “Catchup” One Word?

“Catchup” should never be written as one word. While it is appropriate to write it as two words or as a hyphen form, the one-word variation does not work in any case. We need to make sure there is a key difference between “catch” and “up” when writing them.

Perhaps these examples will help you to figure out what we mean:

• Correct: If you’re going to catch up with me on the leaderboard, you’ll want to work harder.
• Incorrect: He’s never going to catchup at this rate!
• Correct: I thought the catch-up episode was well worth the watch.
• Incorrect: I’m not here to play catchup with you!

Is “Catch up” Two Words?

“Catch up” is correct as two words when we use it to demonstrate an action. In this way, it is known as a phrasal verb, which shows that someone is trying to “catch up” with another person or thing. It cannot be used to modify anything else in the sentence.

You might benefit from checking these examples out to see how it works:

1. If you’re not going to catch up with him, why did you even bother trying?
2. I’ll have to catch up with you another time! I’m a bit too busy right now.
3. You should catch up with her! I think she really misses you, and that would make her happy.
4. If you wanted to catch up with them, maybe you should have started moving sooner!

Is “Catch-up” Hyphenated?

“Catch-up” is correct as a hyphenated form when we use it as a noun or adjective. In this way, we can group the two words to show that they are modifying another noun at some point in the sentence. “Catch-up” also works as a standalone noun with no modification.

We can refer to the AP Stylebook when we want to learn more about hyphen rules. According to AP Style, hyphens link multiple words together when they are used to modify the same noun.

So, if we take “catch-up” and add the noun “television” after it, it would make sense to hyphenate them to show how the modifiers work.

Check these examples out if you’re not sure how to make it work:

1. If you’re interested in playing catch-up with her, maybe you should see if she’s into it.
2. The catch-up television channels are always so boring.
3. We’re in a bit of a catch-up phase at the moment, and things are moving quite slowly.
4. I didn’t want to play catch-up, but I suppose I have no other choice!

Is “Up” Capitalized In The Word “Catch-Up”?

“Catch-up” is not a proper noun. You do not need to capitalize either part of the hyphenated form due to this.

If you choose to include it in a title, you might find it useful to capitalize both “catch” and “up.” This only applies if your title features every other word in its capitalized form, though.

  [ kætʃ ʌp ]  

1. Поравняться с кем-то, нагнать кого-то
2. Наверстать упущенное
3. Сделать нечто, что давно следовало бы
4. Поговорить с человеком, которого давно не видел, и узнать, что нового произошло в его жизни с тех пор
5. Быть вовлеченным во что-то

Перевод этого фразового глаголы во многом определяется следующим за ним предлогом – with, on, in.

Catch Up Meaning

Definition: To talk with someone you have not seen in a while; to do the work that one should have done; to move faster in order to reach someone who is moving the same direction.

Use one: To catch up with someone is to talk about what has been happening in each of your lives after you have not seen each other in some time.

The length of time between seeing someone and catching up with him or her can vary. It is possible to catch up with someone you have not seen in a few hours, and it is possible to catch up with someone who you have not seen in years.

Use two: To catch up on something is to do the word that one should have already done. Perhaps you were sick from school and have work to catch up on. This work should have been done already, but missed class. Now, you need to catch up on it.

Use three: To catch up to someone is to move forward trying to reach someone headed in the same direction. If you are behind in a race, you are trying to catch up to those ahead on you. 

Origin of To Catch Up

The original use of this phrase – which is still used today – means to run after someone in order to get near him. If you catch up with someone in this sense, you have met up with him after not being near him for some time.

Examples of To Catch Up

Let’s go through a few examples of the various uses of this phrase.

Someone might say,

I haven’t seen my fraternity brothers since college. I’m excited to catch up with them at our college reunion.

In this example, the speaker means that he is excited to talk to them and to hear about their lives after not seeing them in person for some time.

Friends do not only have to catch up in person. They can also catch up with each other by talking over the phone, by texting each other, or by emailing. The key is that they are talking with each other about things they have experienced in the time since they have seen or spoken with each other last.

Next up, if you have fallen behind at work, you may need to play catch up.

For example,

Things really piled up when I was on vacation. I need to catch up on a lot of work.

In this example, the worker has to do all of the work that he missed while he was on vacation.

Finally, when you are catching up to someone, you are trying to reach where they are.

For example,

Most of the basketball game was Michigan trying to catch up to Michigan State.

In this example, one team tries to catch up to the other team that is winning.

More Examples

• Here’s an easy way to catch up with the biggest local stories you might have missed. –Washington Post

• Carrying a bag of groceries and his new backpack, Haile ran to catch up with the group, which had just rounded a bend. –LA Times

Summary

The phrase to catch up has a few different meanings in modern English, all of which are used frequently in everyday conversation.