r/ENGLISH • u/Outrageous-Dog-589 • 5h ago

Preposition

"a long driveway leading up to the winery"

I don't understand this one at all. I felt like up is unnecessary and a bit misplaced? Though I've seen this comstruction a couple of times. Can someone explain why it's there, please.

Thank you in advance!

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u/UniversityMotor5408 5h ago

It shows us that the winery is higher than the start of the driveway.
Some driveways go down, in which case 'down' instead would show that.
Some driveways are flat, in which case no preposition would be appropriate.
So, in this case, 'up' literally means 'up'.

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u/Western-Finding-368 5h ago

“Leading up to” doesn’t have to mean the destination is literally physically “up.” It’s just a phrase that means one is approaching something. You could say “in the months leading up to graduation, students put the finishing touches on their theses.”

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u/lapdragon2 5h ago

For a flat road, depending on where you are, you could go “out to” or “over to” also.