ENGLISH
REFERENCE

get down to

phr. v..
B2 Upper Intermediate Oxford General-service Informal

phr. v.. to start doing something seriously or give it your full attention.

phr. v.. to begin to direct one's efforts or attention towards a specific task or topic, often after a period of delay or socialising.


SIMPLE

Let's get down to business.

CONTEXTUAL

After we finished our coffee and caught up on news, we finally got down to studying for the exam.

COMPLEX

The committee spent an hour debating the agenda before they could get down to the actual task of budget allocation.

Particles
down to
Separability
inseparable
Pattern
get + down + to + object
Usage

usually followed by a noun or a gerund (-ing form).

Teaching tip

contrast this with 'get to' (reach a destination) to show how 'down' adds a sense of focus and seriousness to the action.

Pitfall

We got down to work on the project.We got down to working on the project.if using a verb after 'to', it must be in the -ing form because 'to' is a preposition here, not part of an infinitive.

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