Hurry up means to move or do something faster because there is not much time. Most often it is a request or a sharp command: Hurry up! means “Be quick!” or “Come on, faster!”. To hurry someone up is to make another person go faster.
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hurry up; hurry up with + noun; hurry + someone + up
- Hurry up, or we'll miss the last bus and have to walk home.
- If we don't hurry up, all the good seats at the conference will be taken.
- The receptionist tried to hurry us up, but we wanted to read the contract first.
What changed
First versionSorry, I can't talk now because I'm hurrying up.
RevisionSorry, I can't talk now because I'm in a hurry.
To say that you have no time and need to rush, English uses “I'm in a hurry”: it describes your situation. “Hurry up” is different: it pushes someone to go faster right now, so “I'm hurrying up” sounds odd. That is why “hurrying up” was replaced with “in a hurry”.
“Speed up” means to go faster or make something go faster: a car gains speed, a process moves more quickly. The bus sped up after the traffic lights. “Hurry up” is what you say to people when time is running out: Hurry up, the shop closes in ten minutes.
Your turn
I need to take a shower before work, so could you ___ the bathroom?
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hurry up with — When you ask someone to be quicker with a particular task or place, “hurry up” needs “with”: hurry up with the bathroom. Without “with”, you get “hurry up the bathroom”, as if the bathroom itself had to go faster.
Write about a time someone hurried you or you hurried someone. Say who it was and why time was short.
My sister kept telling me to hurry up because our flight was already boarding.
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