Put up with means to tolerate or accept something unpleasant, annoying, or difficult, usually because you don't have a good way to stop it right now.
It's a phrase people reach for when patience is involved — there's friction, but the person is choosing not to escalate it, at least not yet.
"I've been putting up with a slow laptop for three months because IT keeps deprioritizing the ticket."
"She put up with constant interruptions during the call before finally asking everyone to mute."
What makes "put up with" different from "accept" or "handle"
Accept is neutral — it can describe agreeing with something reasonable. Put up with almost always implies the thing is unwanted, and that tolerating it costs something, even if the cost is just patience.
Handle focuses on managing a situation competently. Put up with focuses on enduring it, not necessarily resolving it.
"I can handle a difficult client." (I have the skill to manage this.)
"I put up with a difficult client for two years before management changed the account." (I tolerated it, without much control over ending it.)
That distinction matters in professional writing. If you say you "handled" a bad situation, you're claiming competence. If you say you "put up with" it, you're describing endurance — and often, implicitly, asking for it to change.
Why the grammar trips people up
Put up with is a three-part phrasal verb, and the object always goes at the end, never in the middle.
Correct:
"I can't put up with this noise anymore."
New to Lyra Practice?
Lyra Practice helps advanced non-native professionals learn the nuance of high-value workplace expressions and practice using them in realistic scenarios until it feels natural, so their English sounds precise and senior at work.
Start learning for free →Incorrect:
"I can't put this noise up with anymore."
This is different from two-part phrasal verbs like turn down, where the object can sometimes go in the middle ("turn the offer down" or "turn down the offer"). With put up with, the pattern is fixed: put up with + object, always.
Common mistakes
Mistake 1: Using it for something you actually enjoy or agree with.
Wrong:
"I put up with the flexible schedule here." (This sounds like the schedule is a burden.)
Better:
"I appreciate the flexible schedule here."
Mistake 2: Breaking the phrase apart.
Wrong:
"I won't put this behavior up with."
Correct:
"I won't put up with this behavior."
Mistake 3: Using it in overly formal writing where a milder word fits better.
Put up with is fine in speech and casual writing, but in a formal complaint letter or a policy document, tolerate often reads as more measured:
"The team will no longer tolerate repeated missed deadlines without notice." (formal)
"Honestly, we've put up with missed deadlines for too long." (spoken, more direct)
Practice scenarios
Practice using put up with in situations like:
- describing a recurring annoyance you've tolerated at work, like a broken tool or a noisy environment
- explaining your limit — what you will and won't keep tolerating
- talking about a difficult coworker or client relationship you managed for a while without escalating
- signaling, diplomatically, that patience is running out
Useful practice phrases:
- "I've been putting up with... but I think it's time to raise it."
- "I can put up with [X] for now, but not long-term."
- "We shouldn't have to put up with..."
- "How long have you been putting up with this?"
Lyra Practice helps advanced non-native English professionals learn the nuance of high-value workplace expressions and practice using them in realistic scenarios, so their English sounds natural, precise, and senior at work. Try Lyra Practice.