Own up means to admit that you did something wrong or made a mistake. People use it when someone tells others they did something bad or embarrassing: broke something, lost something, lied. It isn't used for confessing feelings; there are other words for that. What you admit to is introduced with to: own up to a mistake.
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own up; own up to + noun/-ing; own up to the fact that + clause
- Nobody owned up to eating the last piece of cake, but the crumbs on Tom's shirt gave him away.
- If you've made a mistake in the report, own up before your manager finds it.
What changed
First versionIn the end, Mark owned up to break the office printer.
RevisionIn the end, Mark owned up to breaking the office printer.
To after own up is a preposition, as in look forward to, not part of an infinitive. So it's followed by a noun or an -ing form: owned up to breaking. The base form break is a mistake here, so it was replaced with breaking.
Confess also means to admit something, but it sounds more serious: people confess to a crime or confess their feelings: She confessed her love. Own up is for admitting an everyday wrongdoing, often voluntarily: He owned up to losing the keys. Admit is more neutral than both and simply means to accept a fact: I admit I was wrong.
Your turn
After an hour of silence, Jake finally owned up ___ kicking the ball through the window.
Show the answer
to — Jake admits he kicked the ball through the window, and after own up, what you admit to is introduced with to. In might seem logical, but own up isn't used with it.
Write about a small slip-up you admitted to a friend, colleague or flatmate. Say what exactly happened and how they reacted.
Last week I owned up to eating my flatmate's yoghurt, and she just laughed and asked me to buy her two new ones.
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