upon

CEFRA2

/əˈpɒn/

preposition

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    preposition

    On or immediately after something happens.

  2. 02

    preposition

    Extra detail

    A higher-register or more formal alternative to on in most, though not all, prepositional uses.

Examples

  • Sir Herbert took it upon himself to act as chairman.

  • You insist upon our taking that course of action.

At a glance

Sits at A2 on the CEFR scale

Senses
2
Parts of speech
1
Citations
5

Deep Dive

More examples

In context

  • You must not look upon him as great.

  • A vase of flowers stood upon the table. — The painting hangs upon the wall. — All of the responsibility is upon him. — She plays upon a violin (or piano). — The lighthouse that you can see is upon the mainland. — He rested upon his elbows. — Tug upon the rope...

  • Yesterday, upon the stair / I met a man who wasn’t there / He wasn’t there again today / I wish, I wish he’d go away …

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

The cat jumped quietly blank the table and knocked over a vase.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

preposition

From Middle English upon, uppon, uppen, from Old English upon, uppon, uppan (“on, upon, up to, against, after, in addition to”), equivalent to up (“adverb”) + on (“preposition”). Cognate with Old Saxon uppan (“upon”), Old High German ūfan, ūffan (“upon”), Icelandic upp á, upp á (“up on, upon”), Swedish uppå (“up on, upon”) (thence Swedish på), Danish på (“up on, upon”), Norwegian på (“up on, upon”).