brighten up — make brighter or happier
phrasal verbB2IELTS 6+neutralcommon
to make something or someone look or feel happier, or to make a place lighter and more cheerful.
Say it like a native
Textbook These cushions will make the room appear more cheerful and colourful.
Native These cushions will brighten the room up.
'Brighten up' is the everyday verb for making a place or person more cheerful; the paraphrase is wordy.
Pattern: subject + brighten up + object
In use
- A bunch of flowers can really brighten up a room.daily life
- Adding some colorful posters can brighten up a classroom and make it a more inviting place to learn.IELTS speaking
Common mistake
✗ Your message really brightened up me.
✓ Your message really brightened me up. / ...brightened up my day.
With a pronoun, the object goes in the middle: 'brighten me up'.
Common collocations
brighten up + place/person— the room, my day, the place, things
Don't confuse it
Compare with 'decorate', which is only about appearance, not mood.
Related
- brighten up (become brighter or happier) — Another meaning of 'brighten up' is 'become brighter or happier'; compare the examples to keep the meanings separate.