Phrasal verbs · Free lesson
Fill up: a full tank
A fictional rental agreement asks you to return the car with a full tank. You stop for gas before taking it back.
Professor Scott MendozaMeaning in this lesson
fill up
Add fuel until a vehicle’s tank is full, in this lesson.
Example
“We filled up the rental car before returning it.”
We put fuel in the rental car until its tank was full.
The short answer
Fill up the car and fill the car up can describe making its fuel tank full. With it, use fill it up. Do not put the pronoun after up.
Keep the full-tank meaning and the object order.
In this driving context, the car stands for its fuel tank. With a full noun, both fill up the car and fill the car up work. A short object pronoun goes in the middle: fill it up. The past form is filled up; you can also say filled it up.
Compare the examples
We filled up the car before returning it.
We filled the car up before returning it.
The tank was almost empty, so we filled it up.
Adding a little gas is not necessarily filling up. In these examples, the intended result is a full tank.
Build the meaning step by step
Name the tank
Please fill up the tank.
Replace it with a pronoun
Please fill it up.
Try it now
Meaning and word order
Read all answers and explanations
The tank is now full after you added gas. Which sentence describes the result?
We filled up the tank.Filled up describes making the tank full. Ran out means the supply ended; let out describes removal.
Replace the tank with it: Please fill up the tank.
Please fill it up.The object pronoun belongs between fill and up.
Complete: Yesterday, we ___ the car up before the trip.
filledYesterday sets a completed past event, so use filled.
Build it yourself
Ask for a full tank
The tank has already been mentioned. Use every piece and start with Please.
Put it between fill and up. Select a piece again to move it back.
Your request
0 of 4 piecesYour chosen pieces will appear here.
See a model answer
Please fill it up.
Please fill it up refers to the tank already mentioned and asks for it to be full.
A little more clarity
Common questions
A few useful details before you move on.
Are both noun positions correct?
Yes, for this meaning. A full noun can go after up or between fill and up. An object pronoun such as it goes in the middle.
Fill up the car. / Fill the car up. / Fill it up.
What if I bought only a little gas?
Say you put some gas in the car if you do not mean the tank became full. Fill up normally suggests the full-tank result in this context.
I put some gas in the car, but the tank is not full.
Take it into your day
Full noun: fill up the tank or fill the tank up. Pronoun: fill it up.
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