Phrasal Verbs with Down: Meaning and Examples in Real English [2]

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In this episode, you will learn phrasal verbs with “down” and how to use them in real English conversations.

You will learn:

• what each phrasal verb with down means
• how it is used in a clear sentence
• when it sounds natural, and when it does not

This lesson is for intermediate learners who want to build vocabulary and speak more clearly and naturally in everyday English.

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Transcript

0:10

Hi there, this is Harry and welcome back to Advanced English Lessons with Harry where I try to help you to get a better understanding of the English language. We're now going to look at some aspects about phrasal verbs. So they're going to be quite a few, the next four sections are going to cover different phrasal verbs. Phrasal verbs are made up by a normal verb, usually quite a simple verb like take or look or come, followed by a preposition or even two prepositions. So when they are two prepositions, they're called multiverb phrases. So we have one preposition, a phrasal verb, and more than one preposition, a multi-phrasal verb. Okay, so we have these are used in English a lot. They're something that you need to be aware of and how to use them, particularly in your speaking English and also in your written English. If you're doing exams, ILTS or the first certificate, there will be a requirement that you know phrasal verbs, you know how to use them and you know where to or not to include them. Often it's advised that phrasal verbs are informal language, of course they are, and any phrasal verb can be replaced by a more formal verb quite easily. But it'd be wrong to think that phrasal verbs can only be used in an informal capacity. Often when I read business letters or business reports, they will include from time to time phrasal verbs. So you can use them if it is appropriate to use them in the correct and right context. They will appear more frequently in informal books and writings and of course letters and now emails as people's preferred choice of communication. Emails in themselves are much more informal now and therefore the language that you see both in personal use and business use is of a more formal nature anyway. So phrasal verbs come to the fore. I wouldn't get too hung up about them. You don't have to learn thousands and thousands of them because literally there are quite a lot. But you do need to know how and when to use them. So what I'm going to give you in these sections are a number of quite common popular verbs and prepositions to form the phrasal verbs and I'll give you examples with each of them. So by the end of each of these sections, hopefully you will have a better understanding of what a phrasal verb is, how and when to use it, so that you can introduce it into both your written and your spoken English. We'll also give you some examples as always and some exercises that you can practice yourself. Okay, so let's move on. So the first phrasal verb I'm going to cover in this particular section are those phrasal verbs with the preposition down. So I've got a number of verbs that we're going to use. So first one, breakdown. So when we look at and use breakdown, you can use it to talk about some calculation, some mathematical equation. Please give me a breakdown of the numbers that you calculated for this particular assessment. I would like to have a breakdown of those figures concerning the population growth in the European countries. Okay, so where you're studying statistics or you're looking at some mathematical equation, this phrasal verb can be quite useful. You can also use it in any other situation, formal or informal, where you want to break down a letter into its individual paragraphs, where you want to break down any type of calculation, formula, any booklet concerning numbers, statistics, everything connected with that. It also has another meaning when we talk about to break down a wall, to break down barriers. Perhaps if we're talking about different communities and the government is trying to get one community to integrate with the other, they'll use the language, we're trying to break down the barriers that exist between these different religious communities. If you're trying to do some repairs or renovation to your home, you might also be talking about breaking down some walls to create more open space in your apartment or your home. So that's the phrasal verb, breakdown. Next one, to calm down. To calm down usually means to take things easy, particularly used when somebody's getting very excited. They may be shouting and screaming. So a mother might say to a child, just calm down, take it easy. We'll talk about it. Everything is going to be okay. So you're trying to introduce an element of peace and quiet. And somebody's getting rather excited, shouting and screaming, and we ask them to calm down. We can also use it to describe the weather. So there may have been a stormy night or day, thunder, lightning, strong winds. And when you come to the window, look out, you say, oh, the weather has calmed down a little bit. We now only have a gentle breeze and there's no further thunder or no further rain. Next one, come down. Come down is an instruction, an order, a command somebody might give to another person. Please come down from that wall, you're going to fall. So parent to a child. Come down at about eight o'clock and I'll cook you dinner. So a parent talking to perhaps an older son or daughter who may be studying. So when you come down in the morning, please bring your dirty bed linen and I'll put it into the washing machine. Okay, so all about instructions, requests, commands, how we would use come down. Come down to the city later on, if you're living on a hill overlooking the city or some other place, somebody might say, I'll come down later on to the pub and I'll buy you a drink. Do you work in English? Many people learn English from textbooks, but real everyday work English is different. I have written a short guide with the phrases I use with my students for meetings and emails and including the phrases I advise them not to use. The guide is only 9 Euro. The link is in the description. The next one is to cut down. This, as it says, would suggest something being brought down in size, perhaps a tree or a fence or something that is no longer required. So he cut down the trees in his back garden so that there was more light coming in or he was able to get the benefit of the early morning sun. So I will cut down that fence because it is an eyesore and it's certainly blocking out the light that we would like to have on our new patio. Okay, so to cut down. We can also use it in a slightly different way to cut somebody down means to try and get them away from being a little bit pompous or a little bit superior. So you might have a quick witted remark that will cut them down to size, meaning make them feel a little bit smaller, a little bit like the rest of us, rather than being pompous and overbearing. So he quickly made a comment that cut him down in size and everybody laughed. So this would be the outcome of cutting someone down by some quick-witted remark. It needs somebody with a sharp tongue. And often you might use it when referring to politicians who sometimes have an air and appearance about them of superiority. And some quick-witted journalist or member of the public might shout out some remark that will cut them down to size quite quickly. Next one we have is die down, D-I-E die down. This refers to situations where there may have been some trouble. So if you take recently we've been watching a lot of problems in Paris, France, where these yellow vests people have been protesting against various issues to do with the government and they have been blocking the streets, breaking windows and there's been generally a situation of unrest. However, after a period of days or weeks, the unrest disappears, discussions take place and the heat of the situation dies down. It reduces. So when something dies down, it becomes lower or it reduces in its intensity. A fire that you light to keep yourself warm during the winter, we build it up during the day, put plenty of wood or whatever we are using as a fuel. And then as the evening gets late and we are perhaps preparing to go to bed, we let the fire die down so that there can be no risk of any fires whilst we are asleep. Okay, so there could be situation rumors in the newspaper about some business that is in trouble or somebody that has been doing something they shouldn't have been doing. But when the journalist digs further, there's no information or no truth to the rumors. And eventually those rumors die down or go away. Next one is get down. Again, about some instructions. So it's usually said with a little bit of harshness in the voice. So get down from that wall. Get down out of that tree. So this was a very strong way that a parent might insist that their son or daughter stop doing what they're doing. Get down immediately. So these are very strong or said in a strong way to give emphasis to the fact that it's not really a request. It is in fact an order. So it's generally somebody instructing somebody else to do something that perhaps they don't want to do. Hold down. Hold down means to stop something from moving. So you might be talking, let's say, about a sport fixture. Let's say a rugby match, which is very popular in the northern hemisphere, particularly in those countries like Ireland, England, Scotland, Wales and France, where they play rugby to a high intensity. So during the rugby match, one player held down another player and prevented him from releasing the ball. Okay, so he held him down. So it meant he couldn't move. Somebody might just ask you simply, could you hold down that lid of the box whilst I tie some string around it so that I can get it ready to put it into the post? So you're helping somebody to pack a box. So they need the lid, the top of the box to be held down. So you put your hand under a bit of pressure. Somebody will wrap some string or ribbon or rope around it so that the box can be secured and then can be put into the post or sent off for the delivery with DHL. Okay, so to hold down the box. We can also use it when we're describing somebody who's got a particular job. We mentioned that he's been in this position for several years, so we could say it quite informally. He has held down a senior position in this company now for 10 years, meaning he's well accepted, he is quite experienced, and he has been in the company for some time. So he managed to hold down a job even though his bosses didn't like him. So he held on to the job. Keep down is the next one. To keep down can have several meanings. When we're not feeling so well and we might be feeling nauseous and we might think we're going to be sick, we might say to the doctor, I find it very difficult to keep down food these days. Every time I eat, I vomit. Every time I eat, I feel sick. So it's always difficult for me to keep food down or to make sure I don't throw up. Okay, so to keep down. You can also use it again as an instruction. In a war zone, the captain or person in charge of the soldiers may shout an order to keep their heads down. So to keep their heads down means to bend sufficiently low not to make themselves a target for enemy gunfire. Okay, so keep your head down. We can also say to keep your head down when we're talking metaphorically. So it doesn't literally mean to keep your head down, but it means to keep out of trouble, not to let anybody notice you. So you just get on with your job. So for example, the boss is a bit annoyed with one of his workers who is constantly late or always having difficulties, always involved in arguments in the office. So he calls him in and he said, look, you're a reasonably good worker. We would like to keep you. But, you know, if you continue with this argumentative approach, it's not going to do your career any good. So my recommendation and advice to you is to keep your head down for a few months. Just get on with the work and everything will be okay. So to keep your head down. To let down is our next phrasal verb. Let down, again, has a number of meanings. You can be let down by a colleague or a friend or a family member, meaning they have disappointed you. They promised to do something and at the last minute they didn't follow through and you feel let down. For example, you were hoping to go to the big rugby match or football match and your colleague said, I think I can get you a few tickets. Just leave it with me for a few days. I'll get back to you. The day before the match, you give them a call and say, hi, any sign of those tickets? Oh, look, I tried to get them, but my source didn't have any left. I'm really sorry. Oh, dear God, you've really let me down. I promised my son that I would take him. So to be let down means to be disappointed by an action of somebody else. We also use it in reference to adjustments, amendments, or some sort of changes that you're making to perhaps some clothes. So you take the trousers from your son, who has grown several centimeters over the last couple of months, and you take them to the tailor and say, is there any chance you could let down the hem, the bottom of these trousers, because they are now too short for my son. He has grown quite a bit. So if you could let them down, he'll be able to wear them for another six or twelve months. So to let down. The last one in this particular section is settle down. So again, settle down has a few different meanings. It can be used when somebody finally decides that their life is about their family or their job or their career. So they decide it's time to settle down, means to stop acting like a young man about town and stop traveling around the world and going from city to city. It's time you settle down, get yourself a permanent job, find a nice girl, think about getting married and make something of your life. So why don't you settle down? We can also use it as an instruction where the teacher in a classroom comes in and there's a lot of noise before the beginning of the class. The kids are a little bit giddy or excited. She says, come on, settle down. Time to get your books out and start the work. Okay, so there's a number of phrasal verbs using different verbs and only one at the same preposition down. And for those of you and your friends or family who want one-to-one lessons, well, you know what to do. Just get in touch, www.englishlessonviaskype.com and you can apply for a free trial lesson and we'll be very happy to hear from you and very happy to help you.