Follow up means to contact someone again or to return to a task and take the next step: write again, ask for details, check that something has been done. It is most common at work: I'll follow up on your request. With a hyphen, “follow-up” describes something that comes after the first one: “follow-up email”, “follow-up question”.
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follow up on + request/task; follow up with + person; a follow-up + email/question/appointment
- The hotel hasn't answered my email, so I'll follow up with them tomorrow morning.
- Could you follow up on the invoice we sent in May, since the client still hasn't paid?
- The doctor booked a follow-up appointment in two weeks to check my knee again.
What changed
First versionThanks for your time today. I'll follow up you next week.
RevisionThanks for your time today. I'll follow up with you next week.
“Follow up” is easy to treat like “contact” or “remind”, which take the person directly: “contact you”. But after “follow up”, the person comes after “with”: “follow up with you”. A task or a question comes after “on”: “follow up on the order”.
“Follow” without “up” means to go after someone or to act according to something: “follow the instructions”, “follow the news”. “Follow up” adds a second step after the first one: I emailed them on Monday and followed up on Friday.
Your turn
After my answer, the examiner asked a ___ question to get more details.
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follow-up — The examiner asked a question to get more detail about the answer, which is an extra question: “follow-up question”. “Following” means “next” or “listed below” (“the following question”) and does not carry the idea of asking for more detail.
Write about a matter where you have been waiting a long time for a reply. Say who you will contact again and when.
My landlord hasn't replied about the broken heating for a week, so I'll follow up with him on Monday morning.
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