Made up/made up of

Question

Let's say you are trying to make the audience guess what a particular item is made up, like a chooey black desert. And you say:

''You'll never guess what this is made up''

Or

''You'll never guess what this is made up of''

Which one is correct?

Answer 1

The correct phrase is

You'll never guess what this is made up of

meaning you are referring to the constituents, expressing the relationship between the parts and the whole.

Answer 2

If you talk about a dessert (not desert), then you'd better say You'll never guess what it's made out of. We usually use made out of when we talk about something that has been changed or transformed from one thing into another.

Made up of can be used like this:

• The Executive Committee shall be made up of a Chairperson and six members.
• The advisory team was made up of researchers and specialized social workers.
• Those courts have tribunals made up of three judges, one of whom is the president.