Get down means to make someone feel sad or depressed (get someone down), or, with “to”, to start doing something seriously (get down to something). Weather, work or long-running problems can get you down: This weather gets me down. “Get down to” is usually about a task you have put off for a long time: It's time to get down to work.
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get + person + down; get down to + noun/-ing; get down to business/work
- Working late every evening is starting to get me down, so I've asked for fewer shifts.
- Don't let one bad mark get you down; you can retake the test in June.
- We chatted about the weekend for a few minutes and then got down to business.
What changed
First versionI finally got down to write my thesis last week.
RevisionI finally got down to writing my thesis last week.
After “get down to”, use an -ing form or a noun, not the infinitive: “to” here is a preposition, as in “look forward to”. So it is “got down to writing”, not “got down to write”.
“Get me down” means to make me feel low, while “let me down” means to disappoint me by not doing what was promised: The rain gets me down, but my friends never let me down. There is also a literal meaning, to climb down: Get down from that chair!
Your turn
The constant autumn rain always ___, and by the end of November I feel tired and gloomy.
Show the answer
gets me down — The end of the sentence is about feeling tired and gloomy, so the rain spoils the mood: “gets me down”. “Cheers me up” means to make someone feel happier, but the second half of the sentence shows the mood is bad.
Write about a task you put off for a long time. Say what it was and when you finally got down to it.
I'd been avoiding my tax return for weeks, but last Sunday I finally got down to it and finished in two hours.
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