bringing up vs upbringing

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ostap77

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I would say "Mike had a strict upbringing". Upringing is a noun and it's singular.

How about the following sentences?

1)"John pays a lot of attention to bringing up/raising his children"

OR

2)"John pays a lot of attention to the upbringing of his children"

Or

3)"John pays a lot of attention to upringing his children"

Guess the third one is kind of incorrect and unnatural. What do you think?
 

bhaisahab

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I would say "Mike had a strict upbringing". Upringing is a noun and it's singular.

How about the following sentences?

1)"John pays a lot of attention to bringing up/raising his children"

OR

2)"John pays a lot of attention to the upbringing of his children"

Or

3)"John pays a lot of attention to upringing his children"

Guess the third one is kind of incorrect and unnatural. What do you think?
Yes, #3 is incorrect.
 

riquecohen

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I would say "Mike had a strict upbringing". Upringing is a noun and it's singular.

How about the following sentences?

1)"John pays a lot of attention to bringing up/raising his children"

OR

2)"John pays a lot of attention to the upbringing of his children"

Or

3)"John pays a lot of attention to upringing his children"

Guess the third one is kind of incorrect and unnatural. What do you think?
You are correct about #3. You can´t use upbringing as a verb. Number 1 is correct. While #2 is also correct, I think it would sound better to say his children´s upbringing. (This is a matter of my personal preference.)
 

ostap77

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You are correct about #3. You can´t use upbringing as a verb. Number 1 is correct. While #2 is also correct, I think it would sound better to say his children´s upbringing. (This is a matter of my personal preference.)
Cool. Thanks!
 

Tullia

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There's also a subtle different between #1 and #2.

1)"John pays a lot of attention to bringing up his children"

2)"John pays a lot of attention to the upbringing of his children"


#1 implies John is doing the bringing up himself and is directly involved.

#2 is more ambiguous - the children could live with their mother, or be at a boarding school etc, but John knows what is going on, even if he's not directly involved.

It's a very very subtle difference though. Mostly they could be used interchangeably.
 

ostap77

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There's also a subtle different between #1 and #2.

1)"John pays a lot of attention to bringing up his children"

2)"John pays a lot of attention to the upbringing of his children"


#1 implies John is doing the bringing up himself and is directly involved.

#2 is more ambiguous - the children could live with their mother, or be at a boarding school etc, but John knows what is going on, even if he's not directly involved.

It's a very very subtle difference though. Mostly they could be used interchangeably.

Ultimate explanation!
 
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