Sneak up – English Phrasal Verb – Online English Lessons

To sneak up is to approach a person or an animal without them seeing or hearing you.

Often used with ‘on’ – sneak up on

Examples of use:

1. The cat sneaked up on the bird.

2. Don’t sneak up on me like that – you scared me!

3. They sneaked up behind him and nearly gave him a heart attack.

4. Only a Ninja can sneak up on another Ninja

If something sneaks up on you, it happens without you noticing it.

Example:

Extra weight can sneak up on you, and then one day you realize your clothes are too tight.

infinitive
sneak up
present simple
sneak up and sneaks up
-ing form
sneaking up
past simple

sneaked up. North American informal English – snuck up

past participle
sneaked up. North American informal English – snuck up

Practise your writing skills and write an answer to this question (you can write your answer in the comments below, or send it to me):

♦ Has someone sneaked up on you? What happened?

Can you use ‘sneak up’ in your own sentence?

Image © Tomi Tapio