In this workplace sense, "strike up" is a phrasal verb. The key question is which noun comes next.
"Strike up" pairs with conversations and the beginning of relationships. Natural targets include a conversation, chat, friendship, partnership, or working relationship. Rapport, acquaintance, collaboration, alliance, and correspondence can also work. Procedural targets do not normally fit. These include a contract, meeting, lawsuit, audit, strategy, budget, agenda, deadline, or protocol.
Two natural groups of targets
The nouns fall into two groups. A conversation or chat names one interaction, while a friendship or working relationship names an ongoing bond. Acquaintance, collaboration, alliance, and correspondence fit that group too.
"Strike up a rapport" is correct and appears in real use. Still, formal business prose more often uses "build" or "establish rapport."
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See how Lyra Practice works →What does not normally pair with strike up
Procedural targets do not normally pair with strike up. A deal, contract, meeting, lawsuit, or audit needs another verb. So does a strategy, budget, agenda, deadline, or protocol.
"She struck up a conversation with the keynote speaker" and "they struck up a friendship over the following months" — a single-interaction target and an ongoing-bond target, both natural.
"The two firms struck up a collaboration after the joint proposal succeeded, and the working relationship has grown since" — two ongoing-bond nouns, both natural pairings.
"We struck up a contract with the vendor" and "they struck up the budget review" are both unnatural — a contract is negotiated, and a budget review is held or conducted, not struck up.
Practice scenarios
Practice using strike up in situations like:
- choosing the right noun to follow strike up in a sentence about a new contact
- choosing the right noun for an ongoing bond, like a friendship or partnership
- catching a procedural target that does not normally follow strike up
Useful practice phrases:
- "I struck up a conversation with..."
- "They struck up a collaboration after..."
- "We struck up a rapport with... (or, more formally: we established rapport with...)"
A short, social noun after strike up will often sound natural.
A procedural target needs a different verb.
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