to brush up (ON) sth

Question

Hi,In my Longman, on is in parentheses, which probably means that both(1) to brush up on my English, and(2) to brush up my English are correct English?What do you think of the second variant (without 'on')?I have checked several online dictionaries... none answers this question...I have also checked COCA. There are a few examples analogous to (2) there but there is no guarantee these examples are grammatical...mus-te

Anonymous · Accepted Answer

i think brush up sounds well

MUSCOVITE · Answer

Anonymousi think brush up sounds well

I see. Thanks!

Ozzourti · Answer

I usually hear 'brush up on', but maybe some people omit the 'on'.

MUSCOVITE · Answer

ozzourtiI usually hear 'brush up on', but maybe some people omit the 'on'.

I see. Thank you, ozzourti!

Clive · Answer

Both seem fine to me.

MUSCOVITE · Answer

CliveBoth seem fine to me.

Thank you, Clive!

Anonymous · Answer

In the US, it would be "brush up on."  "Brush up" would be more or less understandable, but doesn't sound right to American ears.

KJinCali79 · Answer

It has been my experience in AmE that these have different uses, but there is some overlap.

I'll try to explain.
Brush up on = review something, refresh one's memory about something, revive, etc.
Brush up = (1) make one's appearance tidy (typically hyphenated as in wash and brush-up); or (2) bring to a refined state (similar to that use of the word polish).

Based on those two definitions the version with "on" absolutely works in your example, and I would most likely say, "...brush up on my English..." But the version without "on" can also work as the second definition of that version above, meaning: to polish/hone your English skills, which is slightly different than the act of reviewing English.

to brush up (ON) sth

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