open up — talk honestly
phrasal verbB2IELTS 6+neutralcommon
To start talking more honestly or freely about your feelings, thoughts, or experiences.
Say it like a native
Textbook He gradually disclosed his innermost feelings to me.
Native He slowly started to open up to me.
'Open up' is the natural verb for sharing feelings; 'disclose innermost feelings' is clinical.
Pattern: open up (to someone/about something)
In use
- It took a while, but eventually he opened up about his worries.relationships
- In my opinion, it's important for people to open up to their friends when they're feeling stressed, because talking can really help.IELTS speaking
Common mistake
✗ It took him a while to open up with me.
✓ It took him a while to open up to me.
You 'open up TO someone', not 'with'.
Common collocations
open up + to someone— to me, to a friend, about it, emotionally
Don't confuse it
Not the same as 'open up' meaning to make something accessible or available.
Related
- open up (make access possible) — Another meaning of 'open up' is 'make access possible'; compare the examples to keep the meanings separate.