Two form errors account for most of the noticeable mistakes with this phrase, and both are easy to fix once you see the pattern.
The past tense is "struck up", never "striked up" — strike is an irregular verb (strike, struck, struck). Present tense is "strikes up"; gerund is "striking up." The object goes immediately after "up": "strike up a conversation", never "strike a conversation up."
An irregular verb, and a fixed phrase
The first error is regularizing the irregular past tense — "striked up" instead of "struck up" — a frequent, flaggable ESL error.
The second is separating the phrase: unlike many separable phrasal verbs, "strike up" is essentially fixed, so the object stays immediately after "up." When both the other party and a topic appear, the order is fixed too: "strike up a conversation with [someone] about [something]" — never "strike up [someone]", "strike up with [someone]" alone, or "strike up about [something]" as the sole complement.
Fixing three common errors
"We striked up a great conversation" is wrong. "We struck up a great conversation" is correct.
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Start learning for free →"He struck a conversation up with the CEO" is wrong — the object has been separated from "up." "He struck up a conversation with the CEO" is correct.
"She struck up a rapport to the client" and "She struck up the client" are both wrong — the wrong preposition, and a missing object with the person used as if they were the target. "She struck up a rapport with the client" is correct.
Practice scenarios
Practice using strike up in situations like:
- writing about a conversation that began in the past, using the correct irregular verb
- putting a conversation, a person, and a topic in the right order in one sentence
- correcting a sentence that separates the object from up, or uses the wrong preposition
Useful practice phrases:
- "We struck up a great conversation with..."
- "He struck up a conversation with [someone] about [something]."
- "She struck up a rapport with the client."
Struck, not striked. Up plus the object, never the object plus up.
Two small rules, and the rest of the phrase takes care of itself.
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