A queue can delay your journey, and a missing document can delay a delivery. Hold up focuses on the obstacle to progress. It can describe an unintentional delay as well as someone keeping you waiting.

The idea

Use hold up the bus / hold the bus up, but hold us up. The forms are hold–held–held. In the passive, say was held up by traffic: the delayed person is the subject, and by introduces the cause.

Examples

  • Roadworks held up the airport bus.
  • Roadworks held the airport bus up.
  • A long queue held us up at the ticket office.
  • Lea was held up by traffic near the bridge.
  • I do not want to hold you up; you can answer later.
  • The missing form is holding up the delivery.

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Watch out

A delay does not necessarily cancel a journey. Hold you up in a polite apology need not mean physically grabbing you. The verb has two words; the delay noun is often written hold-up. Other meanings depend on context.

Try it yourself

  1. Choose the correct option. The queue held ___. (us up / up us)

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    us up

    The object pronoun us must go between held and up.

  2. Choose the correct option. Roadworks ___ up the bus yesterday. (held / holded)

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    held

    The simple past of hold is held; holded is not the standard form.

  3. Choose the correct option. Lea was held up ___ traffic. (by / from)

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    by

    In this passive sentence, by traffic names what caused Lea's delay.

Use it today

Explain why you arrived late using an active sentence with traffic or a queue. Then rewrite it with yourself as the subject and was held up by.