go down

Meaning

This phrasal verb primarily means to decrease in level, price, temperature, or amount. In daily life, it can also mean to move to a lower physical level, or (colloquially) for a computer system or website to stop working temporarily.

Examples

• The temperature is expected to go down after the sun sets.

  The temperature is expected to go down after the sun sets.

• I hope the price of flights will go down before we book our trip.

  I hope the price of flights will go down before we book our trip.

• The company's website went down for maintenance last night.

  The company's website went down for maintenance last night.

• You need to go down the stairs and turn left to find the restroom.

  You need to go down the stairs and turn left to find the restroom.

• The swelling on my ankle is finally starting to go down.

  The swelling on my ankle is finally starting to go down.

Common Mistakes

• ✗ The government wants to go down the taxes.

  ✓ The government wants to lower the taxes.

  'Go down' is intransitive and cannot take a direct object. You cannot 'go down' an object to mean decrease it; use 'lower' or 'reduce' instead.

• ✗ The system went down of service for two hours.

  ✓ The system went down for two hours.

  Do not use 'of service' with 'went down'. 'Went down' already implies the system stopped working.

Related Expressions

Practice

• If the internet is slow, the server might have ___.

  💡 Past participle meaning stopped working

  Show answer

  gone down

• We should wait for the prices to ___ before buying a new TV.

  💡 Decrease

  Show answer

  go down