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Business vocabularyphrasal verb · /teɪk ʌp/

take up

In simple English

To start doing a new activity, responsibility, or project. In tech, it often means beginning to work on something that expands your scope or the team's focus.

Someone heard a colleague say they will "take up" a task or project and wants to understand what that means.

At a glanceCEFR B1–B2
Commonness
Versatility
FormalityCasualFormalNeutral
Spoken ↔ WrittenSpokenWrittenBoth
Directness ↔ DiplomaticDirectDiplomaticNeutral
Region

Say it like this

✓I'll take up the API integration next sprint.
✓We decided to take up mobile development this quarter.
✓She's taking up the tech lead role starting Monday.
✓Can someone take up this bug? It's been open for two weeks.

Real examples

Standup

"I'm going to take up the database migration task today."

Slack message

"Hey team, I can take up the performance testing if no one else has bandwidth."

GitHub PR

"This PR takes up the refactoring work we discussed last week."

Jira ticket

"Taking up this ticket to add error handling to the payment module."

Retrospective

"We should take up better documentation practices going forward."

Sprint planning

"The frontend team will take up the dashboard redesign this sprint."

Pair programming

"Let me take up the testing part while you focus on the logic."

Don't say this

✕I will take up on the new feature.
✓I will take up the new feature.— Take up does not need 'on' after it. The object comes directly after 'take up'.
✕I took up it yesterday.
✓I took it up yesterday.— When using a pronoun (it, them), the pronoun goes between 'take' and 'up'.
✕Can you take up with the client?
✓Can you take it up with the client?— When meaning 'discuss with someone', you need an object before 'with'. Use 'take it up with' or 'take this up with'.

Other forms

base form

take up

"I'll take up the task tomorrow."

present continuous

taking up

"She's taking up Python this month."

past simple

took up

"We took up mobile development last year."

past participle

taken up

"The issue has been taken up by the team lead."

third person

takes up

"He takes up new challenges quickly."

Often used with

take up a taskStart working on a specific piece of work
take up a roleBegin a new position or responsibility
take up a challengeAccept and start working on something difficult
take up timeConsume or require time (different meaning)
take it up withDiscuss or raise an issue with someone

Similar words

pick upMore casual; often implies continuing something or learning quickly
start onSimpler and more direct; very common in daily work
beginMore formal; works in documentation and presentations
tackleImplies the task is challenging or complex
work onMost neutral; focuses on the activity itself, not the starting point

Opposites

dropgive upabandonstophand off

Practice

Try it

4 quick exercises

Choose the most natural sentence

1. Which sentence sounds most natural in a sprint planning meeting?

Find the mistake

2. She took up it last week and finished it quickly.

Complete the sentence

3. We decided to _____ mobile app development to reach a wider audience.

Rewrite using 'take up'

4. I'm going to start learning Kubernetes next month.

More words

pick uphand offownscopebandwidthcapacitybacklog

Questions

Quick poll

Have you said "take 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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