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Dileepa Posted 5 years ago
Grammar

What is the meaning of "up against something"?

I found the following sentence on a Youtube channel. It seems as though this is a causative sentence. However, I am not precisely sure about this as "up" is not a verb it is a preposition. That's why I cannot understand the grammatical structure of the sentence exactly. Therefore, I would be grateful if someone could explain this for me.


He has his back up against the wall.


Furthermore, I could find the following sentence by searching on fraze.it website. I can understand that without difficulty making the above sentence more confused.


You're up against the wall.


Reference:-

https://youtu.be/lQDUEQd9jIs?list=WL&t=425

  

Top answer

Can you understand "He has his hand on the table" or "He has his head between the railings"? The pattern of your sentence is essentially the same. "to have one's back (up) against the wall" can be literal, meaning that one's back is physically pressed against a wall, but it is also commonly an idiomatic expression, meaning to be in a difficult situation.

— GPY

  • Can you understand "He has his hand on the table" or "He has his head between the railings"?
  • The pattern of your sentence is essentially the same.
  • "to have one's back (up) against the wall" can be literal, meaning that one's back is physically pressed against a wall, but it is also commonly an idiomatic expression, meaning to be in a difficult situation.
  • Without more context it is not possible to know which is meant in your case.
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2 Answers
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Can you understand "He has his hand on the table" or "He has his head between the railings"? The pattern of your sentence is essentially the same. "to have one's back (up) against the wall" can be literal, meaning that one's back is physically pressed against a wall, but it is also commonly an idiomatic expression, meaning to be in a difficult situation. Without more context it is not possible

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dileepa It seems as though this is a causative sentence.

The verb have is tricky. It's not causative have in this case. I suppose you might call it experiential have. He is in a certain position. He is in certain circumstances.

dileepaHe has his back up against the wall.

~ He is in this

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