wind up — end up in a situation (often unintentionally)
phrasal verbB2IELTS 6+neutralcommon
to find yourself in a particular situation, especially one you did not plan or expect.
Say it like a native
Textbook I unexpectedly found myself responsible for the entire event.
Native I wound up running the whole event.
'Wind up' is the casual spoken verb for an unplanned outcome; the formal version is stiff.
Pattern: wind up (doing something / somewhere)
In use
- We took a wrong turn and wound up in a completely different town.daily life
- Sometimes, people wind up living in cities they never expected because of job opportunities or family reasons.IELTS speaking
Common mistake
✗ I wind up to pay for everything.
✓ I wound up paying for everything.
'Wind up + -ing', not a to-infinitive; past tense is 'wound up'.
Common collocations
wind up + outcome— doing something, in trouble, somewhere, paying
Don't confuse it
'Wind up' is about unplanned results, while 'plan to' is about intention.
Related
- wind up (finish something) — Another meaning of 'wind up' is 'finish something'; compare the examples to keep the meanings separate.