stand up

Meaning

This phrasal verb primarily means to rise to an erect, standing position from a sitting or lying position. It is used commonly in classrooms, physical activities, and daily routines. In some contexts, it can also mean to defend an opinion ('stand up for') or to fail to meet someone for a date ('stand someone up'), but the physical movement is the most basic A2 meaning.

Examples

• Everyone stood up when the judge entered the courtroom.

  Everyone stood up when the judge entered the courtroom.

• It is healthy to stand up and stretch after sitting at a desk for an hour.

  It is healthy to stand up and stretch after sitting at a desk for an hour.

• Please stand up if you know the answer to the question.

  Please stand up if you know the answer to the question.

• She had to stand up on her tiptoes to reach the top shelf.

  She had to stand up on her tiptoes to reach the top shelf.

• I can't stand up right now because my foot went to sleep.

  I can't stand up right now because my foot went to sleep.

Common Mistakes

• ✗ I stood up on the bus because there were no seats.

  ✓ I stood on the bus because there were no seats.

  'Stand up' is the action of rising. If you are already in a standing position for a duration of time, use 'stand' instead of 'stand up'.

• ✗ Please stand up yourself.

  ✓ Please stand up.

  Like 'sit down', 'stand up' is not reflexive, so adding 'yourself' is grammatically incorrect.

Related Expressions

Practice

• The doctor asked me to ___ so he could check my height.

  💡 Lowercase phrasal verb meaning to rise to your feet.

  Show answer

  stand up

• When the national anthem started, everyone in the stadium began to ___.

  💡 Lowercase. Opposite of sit down.

  Show answer

  stand up