Show vs show up [appear] (2025)

Hello everyone.

Can "show" on its own go for "show up" in any circumstances? I think i often happen to read "she didn't show on that particular day" going for "she didn't show up that particular day" but could I say "I snapped my fingers and there she showed". Doesn't this sound weird? And what about other tenses than the past? For instance "I'll just snap my fingers and then she'll show". Doesn't the final position of the verb in the sentence imply the compulsory use of "up"?
And by the way, does this have to do as well with the standard of language? Wouldn't omitting the postposition be regarded as less literate(?...)

Thank you very much.

She didn't show (up) on Friday.
Acceptable with or without up, colloquial in either form. I wouldn't use show up with this meaning in a formal context.
You can happily use show (up) at the end of a sentence.
We were expecting Amy, but she didn't show (up).

I snapped my fingers and there she ...
I wouldn't use show up in this sentence, or the other examples.
Indeed, in that particular sentence I would say:
I snapped my fingers and there she was

Hello Brm.
Hmmm, show, show up, (appear).

Here's how I see it: you definitely

use show or show up as a substitute for appear, which is what you seem to be doing in your examples:
I snapped my fingers and there she showed
I snapped my fingers and [there] she appearedThink of show (up) as 'appear or come at the time [he/she is/was/will be] expected to appear':
We were expecting her at five-thirty but she never showed
We missed you at the last meeting ~ just make sure you show up to the next one

On the question of whether or not you can always substitute show for show up ... I'll have to think about that one ...

NO!! You have to add "up" - show up. The "up" doesn't function as a preposition, in this case; it is a phrasal verb.

I'll just snap my fingers and then she'll show up.

However, you can say: Mary didn't show last night, but it's not common, at least in the U.S. I don't know about people in the U.K.

reganse said:

However, you can say: Mary didn't show last night, but it's not common, at least in the U.S. I don't know about people in the U.K.

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I think it's fairly common here, Reganse. (Well, I definitely say it, anyway)

The picture doesn't show up/appear. There is just a link.

¿Show up or appear?

ewie said:

I think it's fairly common here, Reganse. (Well, I definitely say it, anyway)

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Hi Ewie
Is "show" here "show up", please?

Cobb: Where's Nash?
Arthur: He hasn't shown. You wanna wait?
Inception movie

tunaafi said:

It has the same meaning.

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Would "He hasn't shown up" have been correct too?

tunaafi said:

Yes.

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Does here "show" mean "appear" or "arrive", please?

tunaafi said:

Yes - ish.

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what?

tunaafi said:

As I, and others, have said many times in these forums, taraa, there are very few exact synonyms in English. Show (up) can have a very similar meaning to arrive and/or appear in some contexts. The answer to your question "Does here "show" mean "appear" or "arrive", please?" is definitiely not "No", but it is not an unqualified "Yes".

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So for you what does that mean here in this context?

tunaafi said:

The answer to your question "Does here "show" mean "appear" or "arrive", please?" is definitiely not "No", but it is not an unqualified "Yes".

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I suspect that taraa's question was not intended as a yes/no question, but as an either/or one: Does it mean "appear" or does it mean "arrive"?

In the given context, there is no real difference between appear and arrive. The offer to wait suggests that Arthur is expecting that Nash will arrive/appear/show soon, but not necessarily with a great deal of confidence.

Edinburgher said:

I suspect that taraa's question was not intended as a yes/no question, but as an either/or one: Does it mean "appear" or does it mean "arrive"?

In the given context, there is no real difference between appear and arrive. The offer to wait suggests that Arthur is expecting that Nash will arrive/appear/show soon, but not necessarily with a great deal of confidence.

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Thank you so much.
Can "show up" be in continuous form since it has no duration?
ARTHUR: Cobb... are you okay?
COBB: Yeah, why?
ARTHUR: Down in the dream... Mal showing up

This -ing form doesn't imply that something is happening continuously. I see it as a gerund, i.e. it functions as a noun, and means

Mal showed up.

Edinburgher said:

This -ing form doesn't imply that something is happening continuously. I see it as a gerund, i.e. it functions as a noun, and means

the fact that

Mal showed up.

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Aha I understand. Thank you soooo much.

Edinburgher said:

This -ing form doesn't imply that something is happening continuously. I see it as a gerund, i.e. it functions as a noun, and means

the fact that

Mal showed up.

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Sorry Edinburgher, so is "Mal showing up" like "Mal that showed up", please?

No. The subject isn't Mal himself, but his appearance or arrival.

The conversation is not very detailed, so I'm not sure what Arthur really means.

Edinburgher said:

No. The subject isn't Mal himself, but his appearance or arrival.

The conversation is not very detailed, so I'm not sure what Arthur really means.

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Aha, many thanks.