Practice
Up to or upto: which is correct?
The store is open up to 8 p.m. You can bring up to two guests. In both sentences, write up to as two words.
Use up to as two words when you mean a limit, a maximum amount, or an activity that continues until a time or point.
Read and practice
Read the examples and try the written questions in this guide. Listening recordings are not available for this lesson yet.
Try the written questions
up to /ʌp tuː/
The short answer
Write up to as two words. Use it for a maximum, an endpoint, or the idea of continuing until a time, place, or stage. If you mean the opposite direction, use down to, not upto.
Each traveler may carry up to 20 kilograms.
Why it works: Up to introduces the maximum weight that each traveler may carry.
5 more examples
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The hall can hold up to 120 people.
The phrase gives the greatest number the hall can hold. It may hold fewer people.
Not this:The hall
has 120 peopletoday. What changes: This sentence gives an exact number, not a maximum. -
Please send your comments up to Thursday afternoon.
Up to marks the end of the time available for sending comments.
Not this:Please send your comments
after Thursday afternoon. What changes: After starts later than the deadline, so it changes the meaning. -
The children walked up to the museum entrance.
The phrase shows the point where their walk ended.
Not this:The children walked
into the museumentrance. What changes: Into says they entered the building. Up to only takes them as far as the entrance. -
It is up to the manager to approve the schedule.
Here up to means that the manager has the responsibility for the decision.
Not this:The manager is working
up to the schedule deadline. What changes: This use gives an end time for the manager's work. -
You can save up to 15 percent with the annual plan.
The saving can be less than 15 percent, but it cannot be more than that stated maximum.
Not this:You
will save 15 percentwith the annual plan. What changes: Without up to, the sentence promises the exact percentage.
Read the full guide
The space is part of the spelling. Start by asking what up to means in your sentence. It may mean no more than, until, or as far as a particular point. Those meanings all use the two-word form.
Write the phrase as two words
Use the spelling up to. The phrase has two words whether it refers to a number, a time, a place, or a decision. Upto is not the standard spelling for these meanings.
You may choose up to four topics.
The sentence gives a maximum of four topics, so the two-word phrase is needed.
Complete the sentence: The form accepts ___ five attachments.
Use up to: The form accepts up to five attachments.
Set a maximum amount
Before a number or amount, up to means no more than that number or amount. The real number can be lower. This is different from a sentence that states an exact total.
The repair may take up to three days.
The repair may take one, two, or three days. It should not take more than three days.
Does up to ten seats mean exactly ten seats?
No. It means ten seats or fewer.
Mark an endpoint
Up to can also tell you when an activity continues until. It often appears with a day, time, or stage in a process. The context decides whether the endpoint is included.
The library stays open up to midnight during exams.
Up to midnight names the latest point in the opening time.
Choose the phrase for an end time: Work ___ 6 p.m., then lock the office.
Use up to: Work up to 6 p.m., then lock the office.
Show a point reached
With movement, up to can show that someone or something reaches a point. It does not always mean that the person goes inside or beyond that point.
A narrow road leads up to the village.
The road reaches the village. The sentence does not say that it continues through the village.
Which phrase fits a path that reaches the bridge but does not cross it?
Use up to the bridge.
Recognize responsibility
In be up to someone, the phrase means that a person has the choice or responsibility. This meaning does not involve a number or an end point, but the spelling remains two words.
It is up to us to decide where to meet.
We, not another group, have the responsibility to make the decision.
Complete the sentence: Choosing the final design is ___ the client.
Use up to: Choosing the final design is up to the client.
Before you go
Remember this
Write up to as two words. Use it for a maximum, an endpoint, a place reached, or a responsibility. Check whether the sentence means no more than, until, as far as, or decided by someone.
Practice with the written examples
You can practice with the written questions in the Learn tab. Each answer includes an explanation.
Try the written questionsListening test not available yet
This lesson does not have the recordings needed for a listening test. Use the written questions in the guide to check your understanding.
Try the written questionsQuestions about "Up to or upto: which is correct?"
Does up to mean exactly the number that follows?
Usually, no. Up to introduces a maximum. Up to ten participants means that there can be ten participants, but there can also be fewer than ten. Use an exact number when the quantity is fixed.
The hall can hold up to 120 people.
Can up to mean until a time?
Yes. Up to can mark the point where an activity continues until, as in We worked up to noon. Read the surrounding sentence for the exact time relationship, especially when a deadline is important.
The hall has 120 people today.
Why is upto not standard spelling?
In standard edited English, the phrase is written as two words: up to. Keep the space when the phrase introduces a limit, an endpoint, a place reached, or the person responsible for a decision.
Please send your comments up to Thursday afternoon.
What does it is up to you mean?
It is up to you means that you have the choice or responsibility to decide. In this use, up to is not about a quantity or time limit, but it still has the same two-word spelling.
Please send your comments after Thursday afternoon.
Is up-to-date the same expression as up to?
No. Up-to-date is a separate compound adjective that means current. The phrase up to has different meanings, such as no more than, until, as far as a point, or decided by someone.
The children walked up to the museum entrance.