Pick up means to lift or collect someone or something, or to learn something along the way, without formal lessons. “Pick someone up” means to go and get them, usually by car. With a language, a habit or a few phrases, “pick up” means you learnt them through practice, just by being around them.
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pick up + person/thing; pick + person + up from + place; pick up + language/skill/habit
- Can you pick me up from the airport at nine on Sunday?
- I picked up some Spanish while I was working at a hostel in Valencia.
- Don't forget to pick up your parcel from the post office this week.
What changed
First versionDon't worry, I'll take you from the airport.
RevisionDon't worry, I'll pick you up from the airport.
“Take” may seem like the right verb, but it means to bring someone with you or drive them somewhere, so “take you from the airport” sounds unnatural. Going to collect someone is “pick up”, and the pronoun goes in the middle: “pick you up”.
With a language or skill, “pick up” means to learn it without really trying: I picked up some French in Paris. If you deliberately start a new activity, that is “take up”: I took up yoga last year.
Your turn
My grandmother spoke Italian at home, so I ___ the language as a child without any lessons.
Show the answer
picked up — The words “without any lessons” show that the language came naturally, at home. That is “picked up”. “Took up” would mean you deliberately started learning Italian as a new activity.
Write a message asking someone to pick you up. Say where they should collect you from and at what time.
Could you pick me up from the train station at half past seven tomorrow evening?
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