When two people end their romantic relationship, they break up.

The idea

In everyday neutral English, break up can stand alone, or take with before a partner: break up with Sam. To cause a couple to separate, say break up a couple or break a couple up; a pronoun goes in the middle: break them up.

Examples

  • Maya and Leo broke up last spring.
  • I broke up with Sam after we moved to different cities.
  • Have your neighbours broken up?
  • They decided to break up but remain friends.
  • Long periods apart can put pressure on a relationship, but they do not always break a couple up.
  • Their friends worried that the move would break them up.

Read-aloud uses a synthetic English voice on your device. Quality and availability vary; it does not assess pronunciation.

Watch out

Do not say break up them when the couple is the object. Also, break up with names a partner, not the relationship itself.

Try it yourself

  1. Choose the correct option. Nora and Alex ___ up last month. (broke / break)

    Show answer or example answer

    broke

    broke gives the past form for last month.

  2. Choose the correct option. Did you break up ___ your partner? (with / from)

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    with

    with introduces the partner.

  3. Choose the correct option. The argument might break ___ up. (them / they)

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    them

    them is an object pronoun and goes between the verb and particle.

Use it today

Describe a fictional couple who broke up and explain what happened.