Make Up Phrasal Verb: From Making Up Stories to Making Up After a Fight
The make up phrasal verb means to invent something, reconcile after an argument, or form part of a larger whole. With for, make up for means to compensate for a mistake, loss, or missed opportunity.
- What Does “Make Up” Mean in English?
- How People Use “Make Up” in Conversation
- How to Use "Make Up" in a Sentence
- "Make Up" vs. "Make Up For" – Two Different Things
- Real-Life Sentences with “Make Up”
- Making Up After a Fight – A Short Dialogue
- Common Mistakes with “Make Up”
- Other Expressions Close to “Make Up”
- Opposite or Contrast Expressions
- Practice
- Quick recap
What Does “Make Up” Mean in English?
The short answer: it depends on the situation.
To make up is a separable phrasal verb with several common meanings. The most important ones for learners are:
Meaning A – to invent something (a story, an excuse, a lie) You create something from your imagination – and it’s usually not true. A student arrives late and tells the teacher his bus broke down, his phone died, and his dog ate his homework. The teacher raises an eyebrow: “Did you just make that up?” This is the most frequent meaning in everyday conversation.
Meaning B – to reconcile after an argument Two people who argued or stopped speaking decide to forgive each other and go back to being friends. This meaning is warm and personal – you’ll hear it between friends, couples, and siblings. “We finally made up after three weeks of silence.”
Meaning C – to form or constitute something A group of people or things together form something larger. This meaning is more neutral and factual. “International students make up nearly a third of the university’s enrollment.”
Two smaller uses worth knowing: to make up for something means to compensate for a mistake or loss (“I’ll work late to make up for missing the meeting”) – this is a separate three-part structure covered in Section 5. And the fixed expression make up your mind means to make a decision – “I can’t make up my mind between the two options.”
How People Use “Make Up” in Conversation
Invent: Use it when someone creates a story or excuse – true or not. It works for calling someone out (“You made that up!”) and for harmless creativity (“She makes up the most amazing bedtime stories”). In formal writing, choose invent or fabricate – but in conversation, make up is the natural choice.
Reconcile: The go-to phrase when people forgive each other after a conflict. It implies not just forgiveness but a return to warmth. You wouldn’t use it for formal business disputes – there you’d say resolve the conflict. For personal relationships, make up is exactly right.
Constitute: Use it in factual descriptions – news reports, statistics, academic texts. A quick test: if you can replace it with consist of or form, this is the meaning you need.
How to Use “Make Up” in a Sentence
This phrasal verb behaves differently depending on the meaning, so knowing the patterns matters.
Pattern:
- [subject] + make up + noun (invent, form)
- [subject] + make + noun + up (separable – same meaning)
- [subject] + make + pronoun + up (pronoun MUST go in the middle)
- [subject] + make up (no object – reconcile)
- [subject] + be + made up of + noun (passive – constitute)
|
Common phrase |
Natural context |
|
make up a story |
telling children a bedtime story; inventing fiction |
|
make up an excuse |
explaining a mistake or absence |
|
make up your mind |
making a decision after hesitation |
|
make up with someone |
forgiving a friend or partner after a fight |
|
be made up of something |
describing the composition of a group or thing |
|
make up for something |
compensating for a mistake, absence, or loss |
|
make up the difference |
covering the remaining amount of money or time |
Quick grammar note: Make up is separable – you can say make up a story or make a story up. But if the object is a pronoun, it must go in the middle: make it up, never make up it. When the meaning is “reconcile,” there is no object at all: they made up. And when the meaning is “constitute,” avoid the progressive: say women make up 40%, not women are making up 40%.
“Make Up” vs. “Make Up For” – Two Different Things
This is one of the most common sources of confusion with this make up verb.
Make up (two parts) = invent, reconcile, or constitute Make up for (three parts) = compensate for something, balance out a mistake
|
Structure |
Meaning |
Example |
|
make up + noun |
invent |
She made up an excuse. |
|
make up (no object) |
reconcile |
They made up. |
|
be made up of + noun |
consist of |
The team is made up of volunteers. |
|
make up for + noun |
compensate |
He stayed late to make up for the delay. |
|
make up for lost time |
catch up urgently |
We need to make up for lost time. |
“I want to make up my bad behaviour” is incomplete – you need for: “I want to make up for my bad behaviour.”
Real-Life Sentences with “Make Up”
- He was late again and made up a story about a traffic accident. Nobody believed him.
- “Did you make that up, or did it really happen?” – “I promise it’s true!”
- They hadn’t spoken for two weeks, but they finally made up over coffee.
- “I hope you two make up soon – it’s awkward for everyone.”
- Women make up more than 60% of the teaching workforce in this country.
- The final grade is made up of three components: participation, a mid-term, and a final exam.
- She made it up on the spot – there was no plan at all.
- I need to make up for missing your birthday. Can we have dinner this week?
- I can’t make up my mind – both options look equally good.
Making Up After a Fight – A Short Dialogue
Lena texted her friend Mia after two days of silence following an argument about cancelled plans.
Lena: Hey. I know things have been weird. Can we talk?
Mia: I was hoping you’d reach out. I’ve been feeling terrible about everything.
Lena: Me too. I may have overreacted. I’m sorry.
Mia: And I should have just told you I needed to cancel instead of making up an excuse about work.
Lena: So… are we good? Can we make up and move on?
Mia: Yes. Absolutely yes. I really don’t want to lose you over this.
Lena: Neither do I. Coffee tomorrow?
Mia: I’ll be there.
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Common Mistakes with “Make Up”
Mistake 1 – Wrong pronoun position
- Wrong: She made up it on the spot.
- Correct: She made it up on the spot.
- Why: With separable phrasal verbs, pronoun objects always go between the verb and the particle. This is a fixed rule, not optional.
Mistake 2 – Missing “for” when compensating
- Wrong: I want to make up the trouble I caused.
- Correct: I want to make up for the trouble I caused.
- Why: The “compensate” meaning needs three parts: make up for + noun. Without “for,” the sentence is incomplete or changes meaning entirely.
Mistake 3 – Adding an object when reconciling
- Wrong: They made up their friendship after the argument.
- Correct: They made up after the argument. / They made up with each other.
- Why: When “make up” means to reconcile, it takes no direct object. It’s intransitive in this meaning.
Mistake 4 – Confusing “make up” with phrasal verbs like “make out”
- Wrong: I couldn’t make up his handwriting on the envelope.
- Correct: I couldn’t make out his handwriting on the envelope.
- Why: Make out means to manage to see, hear, or understand something. Make up means to invent. These are two completely separate phrasal verbs – don’t mix them up.
Mistake 5 – Spelling: writing “makeup” as a verb
- Wrong: She will makeup a reason.
- Correct: She will make up a reason.
- Why: Makeup (one word) is a noun – the cosmetics you put on your face, or the composition of something. Make up (two words) is the verb phrase. Different parts of speech, different spelling.
Other Expressions Close to “Make Up”
Cook up
- Meaning: To invent something, often a clever or dishonest plan.
- Difference: More informal and playful than make up; implies cunning or creativity.
- Example: He cooked up an elaborate excuse for missing the deadline.
Patch things up
- Meaning: To fix a relationship after an argument.
- Difference: More informal than make up; emphasizes repair rather than forgiveness; usually implies the relationship was really damaged.
- Example: It took them months to patch things up after that fight.
Consist of
- Meaning: To be formed or made up of particular parts or members.
- Difference: More formal than the “constitute” meaning of make up; better for academic or professional writing.
- Example: The jury consists of twelve members.
Opposite or Contrast Expressions
Fall out (with someone)
- Meaning: To have an argument and stop being friendly with someone.
- Difference: The direct opposite of the “reconcile” meaning – fall out is the moment the relationship breaks; make up is when it heals.
- Example: They fell out over something silly and didn’t speak for weeks.
Practice
1.Choose the correct form:
She made up it / made it up on the way to school. Which is correct?
2.Complete the sentence:
After their argument, they both apologized and finally ____________. (use “make up”)
3.Correct the mistake:
“I want to make up the lost time from last week.”
4.Which sentence uses “make up” correctly?
a) She made up her mind after hours of thinking.
b) She made up of her team with five people.
c) She made up for the story she told.
5.Choose the right phrasal verb – make up or make out:
“It was dark and I couldn’t ______ the number on the door.”
6.Rewrite using a pronoun:
She made up the excuse. → She made ______ up.
7.True or false?
You can say: “International students are making up 35% of the class.”
Answer key:
- Made it up – pronouns always go between the verb and the particle.
- made up – no object needed when the meaning is “reconcile.”
- “I want to make up for the lost time from last week.” – add for to express compensation.
- a) – correct; b) has wrong word order; c) uses wrong meaning with “for.”
- make out – to see or distinguish something.
- She made it up. – pronoun replaces “the excuse” and moves to the middle.
- False – with the “constitute” meaning, the progressive is not used. Correct: “make up 35%.”
