Many learners first encounter strike up in the phrase strike up a conversation. The phrasal verb can also describe the start of a friendship.
Yes, "strike up a friendship" means to initiate a friendship. "Strike up a relationship" is also possible, but it is less precise. It may suggest a personal, romantic, or professional connection. Neither phrase tells us how the bond later developed.
A conversation and a friendship have different spans
The meaning is close to the conversational use. In each case, strike up marks a beginning. A conversation may end that day. A friendship may continue, but the expression does not guarantee that it did.
"She struck up a friendship with a colleague from another office after they shared a conference table." This explains how the friendship began. It does not describe its later duration or closeness.
"He struck up a working relationship with the regional team lead during the lead's first week." Here, the phrase marks the start of professional contact. It does not prove trust, success, or authority over one another.
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Use different verbs for later stages. Develop, build, and maintain describe what happens after the beginning. The present perfect can report a recent start. It does not usually describe the entire duration of an established bond.
"We have struck up the relationship for five years" is not idiomatic. The time phrase calls for a state or repeated action. "We struck up a working relationship five years ago, and we've maintained it ever since" separates the origin from later maintenance.
Practice scenarios
Practice using strike up in situations like:
- describing how a friendship began with a colleague from another team
- narrating the origin of a working relationship with a new manager or peer
- separating a relationship's beginning from years of maintaining it afterward
Useful practice phrases:
- "I struck up a friendship with..."
- "We struck up a working relationship after..."
- "We struck up the relationship [time period] ago, and we've maintained it since."
Use "strike up" for the beginning. Use build, develop, or maintain for later progress.
The expression alone does not show the connection's strength, duration, or outcome.
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