Follow Up vs. Follow-up vs. Followup: What’s the Difference?

These three versions — follow up, follow-up, and followup — are often mixed up, but each serves a different grammatical purpose. The meaning is the same (“to check back” or “continue a process”), but the part of speech changes how you write it.

Let’s make it clear once and for all.

1. Follow up (verb)

Meaning

“Follow up” (two words) is a verb.
It means to check on, continue, or take action after something has happened.

Examples (10 total)

1. I’ll follow up with you tomorrow.
2. Can you follow up on that email?
3. She plans to follow up after the meeting.
4. Please follow up with the client about the payment.
5. The doctor will follow up next week.
6. I forgot to follow up on the project deadline.
7. Let’s follow up on this discussion later.
8. The manager didn’t follow up with the vendor.
9. He promised to follow up once he gets an update.
10. They’ll follow up the survey results with a report.

🧠 Tip:
If it’s something you do, it’s two words — follow up.

2. Follow-up (noun or adjective)

Meaning

“Follow-up” (with a hyphen) is used as a noun or adjective.
It refers to a thing (noun) or action (adjective) that comes after an initial event.

Examples (10 total)

1. Let’s schedule a follow-up meeting. (adjective)
2. She sent a follow-up email. (adjective)
3. The doctor scheduled a follow-up appointment. (noun)
4. Did you receive my follow-up message? (noun)
5. We had a follow-up discussion about the report. (noun)
6. A follow-up call was made after the interview. (adjective)
7. The team will have a follow-up review next week. (adjective)
8. The follow-up on that complaint took too long. (noun)
9. I sent a quick follow-up note this morning. (noun)
10. The follow-up meeting went smoothly. (noun)

🧠 Tip:
If you can put a or the in front of it (“a follow-up”), it’s hyphenated.

3. Followup (noun, informal)

Meaning

“Followup” (one word, no hyphen) is a modern informal variant of follow-up.
It’s often seen in emails, tech tools, or quick messages, but it’s less formal than follow-up and not preferred in academic or professional writing.

Examples (5 total)

1. Just sending a quick followup on our chat.
2. Please review the followup I sent yesterday.
3. The followup process is automated in our CRM.
4. Let’s talk about the followup later.
5. Thanks for the followup — I appreciate it.

🧠 Tip:
Use follow-up (with a hyphen) for professional writing.
Use followup only in casual or digital contexts (like chat tools).

Quick Comparison Table

How to Remember the Difference

👉 Follow up → an action you take (I’ll follow up with her.)
👉 Follow-up → a thing (meeting, call, email) that happens later (Let’s schedule a follow-up call.)
👉 Followup → a casual modern shorthand (Quick followup on this?)

💡 Memory Trick:

“If it’s something you do, it’s two.
If it’s something you name, add a hyphen.”

Common Mistakes

❌ I will send a followup tomorrow.
✅ I will follow up tomorrow.

❌ Please do a follow up report.
✅ Please do a follow-up report.

❌ I sent you the follow up.
✅ I sent you the follow-up.

Why AI Tools Often Get It Wrong

Because followup looks like a convenient shortcut, many AI systems (and even humans) use it inconsistently.

That’s why Humanizey helps rewrite AI-generated content with proper grammar and consistent style — catching subtle distinctions like this automatically.

FAQs

1. Is “followup” a real word?

Technically yes, but it’s informal and not recommended in professional contexts.

2. Should I use “follow-up” in emails?

Yes — it’s the preferred form when referring to a “follow-up email” or “follow-up call.”

3. Can “follow up” be one word?

Only when used as a noun or adjective with a hyphen (follow-up). As a verb, it’s always two words.

4. What’s the plural of “follow-up”?

It’s follow-ups (e.g., We scheduled two follow-ups this week.)

Practice: Choose the Correct Form

(Answers are listed at the end.)

1. I’ll ___ with you next Monday.
2. She sent a quick ___ email this morning.
3. The doctor scheduled a ___ appointment.
4. Thanks for the quick ___.
5. We need to ___ after the meeting.
6. He’s responsible for all customer ___.
7. Please ___ on this issue by Friday.
8. Did you get my last ___?
9. We’ll have a short ___ call tomorrow.
10. The manager didn’t ___ on that task.

Answers

1. follow up
2. follow-up
3. follow-up
4. followup / follow-up
5. follow up
6. follow-ups
7. follow up
8. follow-up
9. follow-up
10. follow up