speak up
No objectThis verb takes no object at all.
How to say it
Stress the particle, not the verb: speak UP. Saying “SPEAK up” is the clearest learner tell — the verb stays light and the particle carries the beat.
Link across the gap. The final /k/ of “speak” moves onto the particle and starts its syllable: “speak up” is said “spea-kup”. Pausing between the words is what makes phrasal verbs sound recited rather than spoken.
2 meanings
- 1
To talk more loudly.
- “Could you speak up? I can't hear you at the back.”
Similar: raise your voice
- 2
To state an opinion you have been holding back.
- “Somebody had to speak up, so I did.”
Similar: voice an opinion