上（あ）げる (ageru)
～上げる — to finish ～ completely
Pattern
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動詞ます形の語幹 ＋ 上げるVerb ます-stem + 上げる (e.g. 書き上げる, 作り上げる, 磨き上げる)
What it adds
Compare 書く (write) with 書き上げる (write and complete). 上げる adds the idea of finishing the action fully and ending with a finished product. With ～終わる you only say the action ended; with ～上げる you also feel that it was done carefully and completed.
Which verbs go with it
It combines with verbs that make something: 書く, 作る, 仕立てる, 仕上げる, 磨く, 織る. It is a set compound, so you learn each combination as a word (書き上げる, 作り上げる, 磨き上げる, 育て上げる) rather than making new ones freely.
Natural contexts
It fits a person who has worked hard to finish a piece of work, a report, a craft or a skill. It is often used in the past tense to report an achievement. Note that 上げる is a transitive verb, so the person doing the action is the subject and the thing finished takes を.
Examples
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レポートを書（か）き上（あ）げました。
Repōto o kakiagemashita.
I finished writing the report.
書く → 書き + 上げる: the report is written through to the end.
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職人（しょくにん）が一年（いちねん）かけて、この家具（かぐ）を作（つく）り上（あ）げた。
Shokunin ga ichinen kakete, kono kagu o tsukuriageta.
The craftsman spent a year and completed this piece of furniture.
The long time (一年かけて) fits the sense of carefully finishing.
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彼女（かのじょ）は古（ふる）い車（くるま）をぴかぴかに磨（みが）き上（あ）げた。
Kanojo wa furui kuruma o pikapika ni migakiageta.
She polished the old car until it was sparkling clean.
The result is stated with ぴかぴかに: polished until it shines.
Common mistakes
- Attach it to the ます-stem (書き上げる), not the te-form. Do not confuse it with 上がる (to rise / to be completed by itself), as in 出来上がる.
- It is a fixed compound. Not every verb can be used with 上げる, so check each one as a word (for example, 食べ上げる is not natural).
More grammar points
- 合（あ）う ～合う — do ～ to each other; to fit, to suit
- だらけ ～だらけ — covered in ～, full of ～ (something bad)
- がち ～がち — tends to ～ (usually undesirable)
- がたい ～がたい — hard to ～
- 気味（ぎみ） ～気味 — a touch of ～
- かける ～かける — half-done, in the middle of ～
- 切（き）れない ～切れない — cannot finish, cannot fully ～
- 切（き）る ～切る — do ～ completely, to the end
- 込（こ）む ～込む — into, crowded, deeply ～
- 向（む）け ～向け — intended for ～, aimed at ～
- 向（む）き ～向き — suited to ～, facing ～
- 直（なお）す ～直す — do ～ over again
- っぱなし ～っぱなし — leaving ～ as it is
- っぽい ～っぽい — ～-ish / tends to be ～
- たて ～たて — “freshly ～ed / just done”
- 的（てき） ～的 — “-like / -al” (makes an adjective)
- 通（とお）す ～通す — “do ～ all the way through”
- あまり あまりの～に — so ～ that ～
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