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