Add up means to add numbers or amounts together, or to make sense, to seem logical (about facts and explanations). The first meaning is everyday: add up the bill, add up your scores. The second is most often negative: it doesn't add up, meaning something doesn't fit. People say it when they suspect an explanation is untrue or something is missing from it.
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add up + numbers/bill; add something up; add up to + total; something doesn't add up
- Can you add up these receipts and tell me how much we spent on the trip?
- Our coffee and snacks at work add up to about forty pounds a month.
- He says he was at home all evening, but his story just doesn't add up.
What changed
First versionThe total cost of the course adds up 300 euros.
RevisionThe total cost of the course adds up to 300 euros.
When you give the final total, you need add up to: adds up to 300 euros. It's easy to drop to by analogy with costs 300 euros, where the number follows the verb directly. Without to, the sentence breaks down: it sounds as if the cost itself is adding something up.
Add up on its own means “add together” or “make sense”, while add up to gives the total: Three coffees a day add up to a lot of money. Don't confuse it with make up, meaning “invent”: He made up the whole story. A story someone made up usually doesn't add up.
Your turn
Her excuse doesn't ___: she said the train was cancelled, but I took the same train.
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add up — The speaker took the same train, so the excuse doesn't match the facts: it doesn't add up. Make up means “invent” and needs an object (she made it up), so her excuse doesn't make up isn't a possible sentence.
Describe a time when someone's explanation seemed strange to you. Say which detail didn't fit.
My neighbour's story didn't add up: he said he was away all week, but his car was outside every night.
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