In today's lesson, you're going to learn

20 phrasal verbs that use the particle down.

These are all common phrasal verbs that

native speakers use in everyday conversation.

I will break down today's phrasal verbs

into five groups based on the meaning of down,

from most literal to most abstract.

I've also created a free PDF with all of today's notes.

You can download it by clicking the link in the description.

Let's get started.

Let's start with the use of down to indicate a physical direction or position.

If someone falls down, they move suddenly from their usual standing position to the

ground.

This is accidental.

There's a difference between the single verb fall and the phrasal verb fall down.

Let's compare two sentences.

The leaves fall from the trees.

This is something that we expect to happen every year.

There's nothing unusual or accidental about this.

The athlete fell down and hurt his knee.

This was not intentional.

It was probably the result of tripping on something or slipping on something.

Next we have put down something or put something down.

This is a separable phrasal verb that requires an object.

It means to take something that you're

holding and put it onto a surface like a table or

a floor.

My arms are getting tired.

Can I put down these bags?

Please put the box down carefully.

There's glass inside.

Phrasal verb number three is to write down something or write something down.

This specifically means to write something on a piece of paper.

I like to write down new vocabulary words that I see.

Do you have a pen?

I need to write this down.

You may also hear people use the phrasal verb jot down.

This is a little more informal, and usually you jot something down very quickly.

You can spend an hour writing something