verb phrase · neutral
pay upfront
/peɪ ʌpˈfrʌnt/pay up·FRONT
Band 7+speakingtask2
to pay before a service or product is provided
Examples
“They asked customers to pay upfront for bespoke orders.”
“Some landlords require tenants to pay upfront before moving in.”
“You usually have to pay upfront when booking a flight.”
Band 8 sentence
“For high-value bespoke projects clients are usually expected to pay upfront to cover initial costs.”
Collocations
- pay upfront for
- require payment upfront
- pay upfront deposit
Word family
pay verbupfront adverb / adjectivepayment upfront noun phrase
Common mistakes
pay in upfront→pay upfront
pay on upfront→pay upfront
Say it for a higher band
5pay now→6pay in advance→7+pay upfront
Synonyms
pay in advance
prepay
Easily confused
pay in advance
“Many subscriptions require you to pay in advance for the first month.”
Related words
Learn this word with the rest of its set, and get reminded at the right time.
In Shopping & Money
Learn it with its set