Catch up on something or with something?

[moonlike]

Hi
Are both correct and natural to you? Are the meanings the same as well?
Thanks a million.

 

[BobSmith]

[AmE - not a teacher]

Both are correct and natural and mean different things in different contexts.

I've fallen way behind on my tasks. I need to catch up on work.

I've fallen way behind the tour group. I need to catch up with them.

I'm sure you can find the reverse of this situation, but these sound natural to me.

 

[moonlike]

[AmE - not a teacher]

Both are correct and natural and mean different things in different contexts.

I've fallen way behind on my tasks. I need to catch up on work.

I've fallen way behind the tour group. I need to catch up with them.

I'm sure you can find the reverse of this situation, but these sound natural to me.

Thanks Bob, I'm always grateful to you for your kindness.
In the first example "I've fallen way behind on my tasks. I need to catch up on work." Can we use catch up with as well with the same meaning?
Thanks a million.

 

[BobSmith]

Thanks Bob, I'm always grateful to you for your kindness.
In the first example "I've fallen way behind on my tasks. I need to catch up on work." Can we use catch up with as well with the same meaning?
Thanks a million.

You can, but I don't think it sounds as natural. Perhaps someone else will weigh in with an opinion.

 

[cheer965]

Thanks Bob, I'm always grateful to you for your kindness.
In the first example "I've fallen way behind on my tasks. I need to catch up on work." Can we use catch up with as well with the same meaning?.

No, I don't think so. they are different from each other.
According to Oxford Dic. : catch up on sth: to spend extra time doing sth because you have not done it earlier:
Ex: I have a lot of work to catch up on.
Catch up with sb : 1/ to reach sb who is ahead by going faster:
Ex: Go on ahead. I'll catch up with you.
2/ to reach the same level or standard as sb who was better or more advanced:
Ex: After missing a term through illness he had to work hard to catch up with the others.

 

[moonlike]

No, I don't think so. they are different from each other.
According to Oxford Dic. : catch up on sth: to spend extra time doing sth because you have not done it earlier:
Ex: I have a lot of work to catch up on.
Catch up with sb : 1/ to reach sb who is ahead by going faster:
Ex: Go on ahead. I'll catch up with you.
2/ to reach the same level or standard as sb who was better or more advanced:

Ex: After missing a term through illness he had to work hard to catch up with the others.

Thanks a lot. The problem is actually with "catch up with something" or "catch up on something". I mean when the object is a thing, should we say on or with after catch up?

 

[Barb_D]

Give a context please! How do you want to use it?

Is there a car in front of you do? Do you want to pull even with it? You want to catch up with that car.
Do you have a favorite television show? Did you miss the last few episodes? You want to catch up on your television series.

It doesn't matter whether it's a thing or a person - it depends on the meaning you want to convey!

 

[moonlike]

Give a context please! How do you want to use it?

Is there a car in front of you do? Do you want to pull even with it? You want to catch up with that car.
Do you have a favorite television show? Did you miss the last few episodes? You want to catch up on your television series.

It doesn't matter whether it's a thing or a person - it depends on the meaning you want to convey!

Thanks a lot dear Barb. I got it "if you want to reach someone or something like the car in your example, it's catch up with. When you want to spend extra time (as cheer 965 mentioned) to do a backlog of work or to be up-to-date with the latest news or watch something that you have missed, we use catch up on".

Thanks a million.
PS. It came up in the context of the conversation while I was talking to one of my students. It was about doing a backlog of work and I should use catch up on it.