Show up means to arrive or appear somewhere: at a meeting, at work, at an event. It is most often said about someone who was expected: they came on time, came late or didn't come at all. The second meaning is to be visible: The stain doesn't show up on dark fabric.
Want to use show up in conversation?
Write a sentence — we'll show the mistakes right away and suggest how to say it more naturally.
The check is taking longer than usual. Your feedback will appear here automatically.
show up at + place; show up for + meeting/class/interview; show up on/in + photo/screen
- Only six people showed up for the Monday meeting, so we moved it to Wednesday.
- Our taxi finally showed up forty minutes late, and we nearly missed our flight.
- The small scratch doesn't show up in the photos, but I still mentioned it in the advert.
What changed
First versionThe candidate didn't show up on the interview, so we invited the next person.
RevisionThe candidate didn't show up for the interview, so we invited the next person.
On may seem natural before interview, but with show up the event usually takes for and the place takes at: show up for the interview, show up at the office. On is kept for time and screens: show up on time, show up on the screen.
Appear also means to come into view, but it more often describes someone suddenly becoming visible: A man appeared in the doorway. Show up stresses that the person came where others were counting on them: She showed up an hour late.
Your turn
We waited at the café for an hour, but Tom never ___ and didn't answer his phone.
Show the answer
showed up — They were waiting for Tom at the café and he never came, so showed up is needed. Showed off means boasted or tried to impress people, and it has nothing to do with waiting.
Write about a meeting, class or tour that someone was late for or missed. Say what you had to do because of this.
Our guide showed up half an hour late for the museum tour, so we had to skip the first gallery.
Learn to use new words without mistakes
Write phrases with the words you are learning. LetsWords shows mistakes in usage and grammar, suggests corrections and explains them, and review helps the words stick.