Phrasal verbs · Free lesson
Lock up: make the building secure before you leave
You are the last person leaving a shared studio. The reminder is about securing the building, not only closing its door.
Professor Scott MendozaMeaning in this lesson
lock up
To make a building secure by locking its doors and windows.
Example
“Please lock up the studio before you leave.”
Before leaving, secure the studio rather than simply shutting the door.
The short answer
Lock up means to secure a building by locking its doors and windows. With a noun, you can say lock up the studio or lock the studio up. With it, say lock it up.
A closed door is not necessarily a locked door.
In this building-security meaning, lock up can take a noun in either position. A pronoun such as it belongs in the middle. You can also say I’ll lock up when the place is already understood.
Three ways to give the reminder
Please lock up the studio.
Please lock the studio up.
Please lock it up.
Lock up it has the wrong pronoun order. Lock it up keeps it between the verb and particle.
Shorten the reminder
Identify the place
the studio
Use the full noun
lock the studio up
Replace only the noun
lock it up
Try it now
Understand the reminder, then choose the form.
Read all answers and explanations
You are told to lock up the studio. What action does the reminder ask for?
Secure the building by locking its doors and windows.The reminder asks you to secure the building. Simply closing a door does not necessarily lock it, and opening for visitors is different.
Replace the studio with it, keeping both lock and up. Which sentence works?
Please lock it up.Lock it up has the correct pronoun position. Lock it is grammatical, but it omits up, which this task asks you to retain.
Keep the full noun the studio. Which sentence has a correct order?
Please lock the studio up.Lock the studio up is correct. The noun phrase may go between lock and up, but up cannot go between the and studio. A pronoun cannot follow up in this pattern.
Put it into practice
Fix the final departure message.
Keep the instruction to secure the studio, retaining both lock and up. Move the existing pronoun it to the correct position.
The studio is empty now. Please lock up it before you leave.
See a model answer
The studio is empty now. Please lock it up before you leave.
The corrected message keeps the intended action and the natural pronoun order. It is more specific than an instruction just to close the studio.
A little more clarity
Common questions
A few useful details before you move on.
Can I say I’ll lock up without naming the place?
Yes, when the building or place is understood. You do not always need to repeat a noun or add it.
You go ahead. I’ll lock up.
Is lock the door wrong without up?
No. Lock the door is normal English for securing that door. This lesson practices the phrasal verb lock up, not a rule that lock must always have up.
Please lock the door.
Take it into your day
Before you leave, lock the studio up. If the place is clear: lock it up.
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