Phrasal verb expressing cessation

To express giving up effort, abandoning a habit, or surrendering to defeat

After repeated failure, when advising someone to quit a harmful habit, or when acknowledging personal limits

Casual conversation, self-help contexts, coaching, medical advice

give up

give up

smoking, hope, the idea, my job

• hope
• trying
• smoking
• drinking
• a habit

• quit
• surrender
• abandon

'give up from doing' ('give up doing') vs correct 'give it up'; pronoun after particle ('give up it' is incorrect).

give in (yield under pressure); throw in the towel (idiom for quitting altogether).

Learners from Romance language backgrounds may incorrectly add a preposition like 'to' after 'give up', e.g., saying 'give up to smoking' instead of 'give up smoking'.

• give-up (noun)
• never-give-up attitude

implies a deliberate decision to cease effort; with direct object, conveys giving up a habit or activity rather than losing faith entirely.

frank and often emotionally charged; signals acceptance of failure but also readiness to start anew if appropriate context permits.

quit or surrender

This phrasal verb can be both intransitive (give up) and transitive (give something up); the object pronoun must precede the particle: 'give it up', not 'give up it'.

give up on someone/something