This is the same origin-vs-maintenance distinction that makes a relationship's beginning worth naming separately, applied directly to word choice.
"Strike up (a relationship/rapport)" is about the connection's origin — forming quickly, at or near first meeting. "Build", "develop", and "maintain" are about its gradual development, deepening, or ongoing upkeep over time. Choose based on whether the sentence is about how the connection started or how it grew.
Sequential phases, not competing choices
A relationship struck up at a first meeting still needs building and maintaining afterward — the two phases aren't in competition, they're sequential, and a well-formed sentence about a long professional relationship often needs both verbs for two different parts of the timeline.
One verb per phase
"We struck up a rapport at the kickoff meeting, and we've been building on it ever since" — origin, then ongoing development, correctly split across two verbs.
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Start learning for free →"We have struck up the relationship for five years" is wrong — "struck up" can't describe five years of an ongoing state. "We've maintained the relationship for five years, since we first struck it up at a trade show" is correct.
"She's spent the last two years developing the client relationship she struck up at that very first onsite visit" — one verb for the beginning, a different one for everything since.
Practice scenarios
Practice using strike up in situations like:
- describing how a client or peer relationship first began
- describing years of ongoing effort to build and maintain a relationship
- using both an origin verb and a development verb in the same sentence
Useful practice phrases:
- "We struck up a rapport at... and we've been building on it since."
- "We've maintained the relationship for [time], since we first struck it up at..."
- "She's spent [time] developing the relationship she struck up at..."
Struck up covers only the beginning; once a relationship exists, build, develop, and maintain are the correct verbs for everything that happens next.
Neither set of verbs substitutes for the other — a relationship needs both, in order.
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.