You finish a meeting, open a new email and type: "I will follow-up on the pricing questions." Something feels wrong, but what? The answer is one small hyphen. Here is how to use follow up correctly at work, and how to sound natural when you do.
The short rule
- follow up (two words, no hyphen) is the verb: something you do.
- follow-up (with a hyphen) is the noun or the adjective: a thing, or a word that describes a thing.
A quick test: if you can put will or to in front of it, it is the verb, so no hyphen. If you can put a or the in front of it, it is the noun, so use the hyphen.
What it means
To follow up means to take further action about something, or to find out more about it. At work, it usually means coming back to a question, a person or a task after the first conversation.
The verb: follow up (on)
The most common pattern at work is follow up on + the thing:
- I'll follow up on the pricing questions by Friday.
- Can you follow up on the missing invoice?
- Thanks for the meeting today. I'll follow up with the final numbers tomorrow.
You can also follow up with a person: "I'll follow up with Sam about the dates."
The noun and adjective: follow-up
- The client asked for a quick follow-up. (noun)
- Let's book a follow-up call for next week. (adjective)
- Please send a follow-up email with the action items. (adjective)
Common partners: follow-up meeting, follow-up call, follow-up email, follow-up question.
A real example
After a client call, Mina sends this:
Hi Daniel,
Thanks for your time today. I'll follow up on the two pricing questions by Friday. If it helps, we can set up a short follow-up call next week.
Best,
Mina
Notice the first one is a verb (I'll follow up) and the second is an adjective (a follow-up call).
Three mistakes learners often make
- "I will follow-up." This is a verb, so no hyphen: I will follow up.
- "I'll send a follow up." This is a noun, so it needs the hyphen: a follow-up.
- "I'll follow up the questions." At work, add on: I'll follow up on the questions.
Try it yourself
Write a three-sentence email: thank someone for a meeting and say you will follow up on one open point. Then paste it into the free Writing Coach. It shows every fix, explains why, and remembers the mistakes you repeat.
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