Phrasal verb
be down
Definition
phrasal verb. to feel sad, unhappy, or discouraged about something.
phrasal verb. to experience a state of low mood or mild depression; often used as a predicative adjective phrase in informal contexts.
Examples
“He is down because he failed his driving test.”
“She has been down lately since her best friend moved to another city.”
“The entire department was down after the board of directors announced the cancellation of the annual bonus scheme.”
Examples
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.”
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.
Phrasal verb
Particles
down
Separability
inseparable
Pattern
be + down
Synonyms
Antonyms
Grammar
Scan code
englishreference.com/q/be-down