16 Phrasal Verbs with Down ?? - Learn English with Harry

16 Phrasal Verbs with Down ?? - Learn English with Harry Hi there.Were now going to look at some  aspects about phrasal verbs and in particular phrasal verbs with DOWN.Theyre  going to be quite a few phrasal verbs for the next  four sections.Phrasal verbs  are made up by a normal verb,  usually  quite a simple verb like take,look  or come followed by a preposition or even  two prepositions.  When phrasal verbs have  two  prepositions,  theyre called multi verb  phrases.Phrasal verbs  are used in English a lot.  So theres 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  are doing exams like IELTS 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.   10 Phrasal Verbs with Down Often its advised that phrasal verbs are informal language.And, of course, they are. Any phrasal verb can be replaced by a more formal verb quite easily.But its 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.Phrasal verbs 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 English language that you see both in personal use and business use is of a more informal nature anyway so phrasal verbs come to the force. I wouldnt get too hung up about them.You dont have to learn thousands and thousands of phrasal verbs because literally there are quite a lot.  But you do  need to know how and when to use them.  So w hat Im going to give you in these sections are a number of quite common popular English verbs and prepositions to form the phrasal verbs.Ill also give you examples with each of them so by the end of each of these sections hopefully you would have a better understanding of what a phrasal verb is, how to use it so that you can introduce it into both your written and your spoken English. 10 Phrasal Verbs with Down I  will also give you  some examples  and some  exercises that you can practise yourself.So lets move on so the first  phrasal verb and I am going to  cover in this  particular section are those phrasal  verbs with the preposition DOWN.  Ive  got a number of verbs that were going  to use.  The first one is TO BREAK DOWN.  When  we look at and use break down,  you can  use it to talk about some calculation,  some mathematical equation.  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.  BREAK DOWN  also has another  meaning.  When we talk about to break down  a wall,  to break down barriers  perhaps.  For example, were  trying to break down the barriers that  exist between different communities.Or  if youre 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.  Next  one TO CALM DOWN.To calm down  usually means to take things easy.  Particularly we use  to calm down  when somebodys getting  very excited.  They may be shouting and  screaming.  So a mother might say to a  child:  Just calm down, take it easy well talk about it. Everything is going to be okay.So youre trying to introduce an  element of peace and quiet  when  somebodys getting rather excited  shouting and screaming.  We ask them  to calm down.  We can also use to calm down  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 and you say:Oh the weather has calmed down a little bit. We now only have a gentle breeze and theres no further thunder or no further rain.Next one TO COME DOWNTo  come down is an  instruction,  an order,  a command  somebody  might give to another person.Please come down from that wall, youre going to fall.For example, a parent says to a child:  Come down at about eight oclock and Ill cook you dinner.We can also say:Come down to the city later on.For example,  if youre living on a  hill overlooking the city or some other  place somebody you might say:Ill come down later on to the pub and Ill buy you a drink. 10 Phrasal Verbs with Down - Image to share The next one is TO CUT DOWNThis as it  says would suggest something being  brought down in size,  perhaps a tree or a  fence or something that is no longer  required.He cut down the trees in his  back garden so that there was more light  coming in.I  will cut down that fence because it is  certainly blocking  out the light.  We  can also use to cut down  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.You might make a comment 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.He  quickly made a comment that cut him down  in size and everybody laughed.  The next one we  have is TO DIE DOWNTo die  down refers to situations where they may have  been some trouble.  So weve been watching a lot of  problems in Paris France where these  yellow vests people have been protesting  against various issu es to do with the  government and they have been blocking  the streets,  breaking windows and has  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.  So when something dies  down,  it becomes lower or it reduces in  its intensity.Like a  fire that you like 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  we let the fire die down.  There could be  situation,  rumours in the newspaper about  some business thats is in trouble or  somebody that has been doing something  they shouldnt have been doing.  But when  the journalist digs further,  theres no  information or no truth to the rumours  and eventually those rumours die down or  go away. Next one is TO GET DOWNAgain  to get down is about some instructions so its usually  said with a little bit of harshness in  the voice.Get down from that wall. Get down out of that tree.A  parent might insist  that their son or daughter stop doing  what theyre doing and get down immediately.  So these are very strong or said in a  strong way to give emphasis to the fact  that its not really a request.  We can also use get down to instruct somebody else to do  something that perhaps they dont  want to do.Get down to your studies!HOLD DOWN  Hold down means to  stop something  moving. You might be talking that say  about a sport fixture,  lets 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.  During  the rugby match one player held down  another player and prevented him from  releasing the ball.Somebody might just ask you simply could  you hol d down something to stop it from moving.Hold down that lid of the box whilst  I tie some string around it.We can also use hold down when were describing somebody whos got a particular job. We mentioned that hes 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 didnt like him.  KEEP DOWN  is the next oneTo keep  down can have several meanings.  When  were not feeling so well and we  might be feeling nausea sand we might  think were 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. Its always difficult  for me to keep food down.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.  To keep the heads down means to bend  it sufficiently low not to make  themselves a target for enemy and  gunfire.  We  can also say to keep your head down  where when were talking metaphorically. It doesnt literally mean to keep  your head down but it means to keep out  of trouble,  not to let anybody notice.My recommendation and advice to you is  to keep your head down for a few months,  just get on with the work and everything  would be okay. 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 promise to do something and at  the last minute they didnt 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 that he would be able to get you tickets. However, the  day before the match you find out that he didn’t keep his promise. So he let you down.Oh  dear, youve really let me down.  I  promised my son that I would take him  to this game.We  can also use to let down  when we’re referring  to  clothes alterations.For example, your son has grown several  centimetres and you need to make his trousers longer. So you take them to the the  tailor and say:Is there any chance you  could let down the hem of  these trousers? They are too short.The last  one in this particular section is TO SETTLE DOWNSo agai n settle down has a few different  meanings.  It can be used when somebody  finally decides that their life is about  the family or that job or the career,  so  they decide its time to settle down.  Means to stop acting like young man, stop travelling  around the  world, stop changes jobs.Its  time for you to settle down,  get yourself a  permanent job,think about getting married and make  something of your life.We can also use settle down  as an  instruction where the teacher in a  classroom comes in and theres a lot of  noise before the beginning of the the  class.  The kids are a little bit excited  so  she says:Come on,  settle down.  Time to get your books out and start the  work.Okay.  So theres a number of phrasal  verbs with DOWN.Join me  again for the next  section of my English phrasal verbs course.  Thank  you.