ENGLISH
REFERENCE

be down

phr. v..
B1 Intermediate Oxford

phr. v.. to feel sad, unhappy, or discouraged about something.

phr. v.. to experience a state of low mood or mild depression; often used as a predicative adjective phrase in informal contexts.


SIMPLE

He is down because he failed his driving test.

CONTEXTUAL

She has been down lately since her best friend moved to another city.

COMPLEX

The entire department was down after the board of directors announced the cancellation of the annual bonus scheme.

Particles
down
Separability
inseparable
Pattern
be + down
Usage

usually followed by 'about' or 'on' to indicate the cause of the sadness.

Teaching tip

distinguish this emotional sense from the technical sense ('the system is down') or the physical sense ('the sun is down'); this version is highly common in spoken counseling or empathy.

Pitfall

He is downing today.He is down today.in this sense, 'down' acts as an adjective following the verb 'to be', so it does not take an -ing ending.

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