Phrasal Verb - Adding Up

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Definition

The phrasal verb "add up" has several primary meanings. Most commonly, it means to calculate a total from multiple numbers, quantities, or items; to sum them to find the grand total. Beyond simple arithmetic, it also signifies the act of making sense or being logically consistent and coherent. In this context, it's often used in the negative form (e.g., "it doesn't add up") to express suspicion, a lack of credibility, or an inconsistency in a story, facts, or a situation. A third important meaning is to accumulate or amount to a significant total over time, where many small individual components collectively contribute to a larger sum or impact.

Examples

No.	Example
1	Please add up all the figures from the quarterly report to get the final profit margin.
2	His alibi just doesn't add up; there are too many inconsistencies in his story.
3	All those small daily expenses for coffee and snacks really add up over the course of a month.
4	The detective found that the witness's statement about the timeline didn't add up with the security footage.
5	If you add up the hours we've spent on this project, it's far more than initially estimated.
6	Does her explanation of the missing documents add up, or do we need to investigate further?
7	Even small acts of kindness can add up to a significant positive change in a community.
8	The manager asked the team to add up all the current inventory items before the stocktake.
9	When you consider all the evidence, the prosecutor's case starts to add up, pointing towards guilt.
10	The wear and tear on the equipment, combined with the lack of maintenance, really started to add up, leading to a major breakdown.