catch up with

Meaning

This expression means to meet with someone to find out what has happened in their life since you last spoke. It can also mean to reach the same quality, standard, or physical position as someone who is ahead of you. The tone is warm, friendly, and very common in casual social settings.

Examples

• I'm meeting Sarah tonight to catch up with all her news.

  I'm meeting Sarah tonight to catch up with all her news.

• Go on ahead, I'll catch up with you in a couple of minutes.

  Go on ahead, I'll catch up with you in a couple of minutes.

• It was great to catch up with my old high school friends over coffee.

  It was great to catch up with my old high school friends over coffee.

• She ran as fast as she could to catch up with the rest of the group.

  She ran as fast as she could to catch up with the rest of the group.

• I need to catch up with my emails before I can leave the office.

  I need to catch up with my emails before I can leave the office.

Common Mistakes

• ✗ I want to catch up my friend this weekend.

  ✓ I want to catch up with my friend this weekend.

  Without the preposition 'with', 'catch up' means to do outstanding work or reach a standard. To meet a person for social updates, you must use 'catch up with'.

• ✗ We caught up ourselves on the latest news.

  ✓ We caught up on the latest news.

  'Catch up' is not a reflexive verb; you do not need to use reflexive pronouns like 'myself' or 'ourselves' after it.

Related Expressions

Practice

• I haven't seen you in ages! We really need to ___ each other.

  💡 get updates on our lives

  Show answer

  catch up with

• He walked so fast that it was hard to ___ him.

  💡 reach his physical position

  Show answer

  catch up with