What's the difference between 'bring up' and 'raise'?

'Bring up' and 'raise' are very similar. 'Raise' is slightly more formal and often used in business writing. 'Bring up' is more conversational and common in everyday meetings.

Can I use 'bring up' in formal emails?

Yes, 'bring up' works in most professional emails. For very formal communication with executives or clients, you might prefer 'raise' or 'mention'.

Where does the pronoun go with 'bring up'?

Put pronouns between 'bring' and 'up'. Say 'bring it up' not 'bring up it'. With nouns, both work: 'bring up the issue' or 'bring the issue up'.

Is 'bring up' only for problems?

No. You can bring up any topic—ideas, suggestions, updates, or good news. It's commonly used for concerns, but not limited to negative topics.

How do I use 'bring up' in past tense?

Use 'brought up'. For example: 'I brought up the deployment issue in yesterday's standup.' The past participle is also 'brought up'.

Can I say 'bring up about something'?

No. Don't use 'about' after 'bring up'. Say 'bring up the issue' not 'bring up about the issue'. The topic comes directly after the phrasal verb.

Bring Up Meaning in Meetings

Commonness
Versatility
Formality	CasualFormalNeutral
Spoken ↔ Written	SpokenWrittenBoth
Directness ↔ Diplomatic	DirectDiplomaticNeutral
Region

Say it like this

✓I'll bring it up in the next standup.

✓Can we bring this up with the product team?

✓She brought up a good point about the deadline.

✓I didn't want to bring it up during the call.

✓Let's bring up the testing issues in the retro.

Real examples

Standup

"I want to bring up a blocker I hit yesterday with the API integration."

Slack message

"Should we bring this up in today's sync, or can it wait until next week?"

GitHub PR

"I'm bringing up some concerns about the error handling in this PR."

Jira ticket

"This was brought up during sprint review—we need to address the performance issues."

Retrospective

"I'd like to bring up how we handled the last deployment."

Sprint planning

"Can we bring up the tech debt items before we finalize the sprint?"

Pair programming

"I'll bring up the refactoring idea when we review this together."

Don't say this

✕I will bring this issue.

✓I will bring up this issue.— You need 'up' to complete the phrasal verb. Without it, the meaning changes.

✕Can you bring up about the bug?

✓Can you bring up the bug?— Don't use 'about' after 'bring up'. The object comes directly after.

✕I brought up it yesterday.

✓I brought it up yesterday.— With pronouns, put the pronoun between 'bring' and 'up'.

Other forms

base form

bring up

"I'll bring up the issue tomorrow."

past tense

brought up

"She brought up a concern in the meeting."

present participle

bringing up

"I'm bringing up the topic now."

past participle

brought up

"This was brought up last week."

Often used with

bring up an issueMost common combination—used for problems or concerns.

bring up a concernSlightly more formal, often used with stakeholders.

bring up a topicGeneral way to introduce any subject.

bring up a pointUsed when someone mentions an important detail.

bring up in a meetingSpecifies where the topic will be discussed.

bring it up with [someone]Directs who should hear about the topic.

Similar words

mentionMore casual, less emphasis on starting a discussion.

raiseSlightly more formal, common in business English.

introduceMore formal, often for new topics or ideas.

flagEmphasizes urgency or a potential problem.

addressImplies dealing with the topic, not just mentioning it.

Opposites

avoidskipignoredroptable

Practice

Try it

4 quick exercises

Choose the most natural sentence

1. You want to discuss a bug with your team lead.

I will bring the bug.I'll bring up the bug with the team lead.I'll bring up about the bug.I'll bring up the bug to the team lead about.

Find the error

2. I brought up it during yesterday's standup.

brought up it → brought it upduring → inyesterday's → yesterday

Complete the sentence

3. She _____ a good point about the deadline in the planning meeting.

Rewrite more naturally

4. I want to mention the security problem in our next team meeting.

More words

flag raise blocker sync follow up escalate loop in

Questions

Quick poll

Have you said "bring up" in a standup this week?

Want more structured practice like this? Our English for Programmers course covers real workplace English in depth.

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