Phrasal verbs

With down

The Grammar Business 2001 Glenrothes College

Gramatical structure
Sit Write Lie Calm Slow turn

verb + preposition

The Grammar Business 2001 Glenrothes College

Meaning of Down as preposition

DOWN: downward movement, decrease, ending, stopping

The Grammar Business 2001 Glenrothes College

 You are always driving so fast. ________ or you will have an accident. Go and ________ on the bed if youve got a headache. He ________ my offer of help. He wanted to do it himself. Could you ________ your email address? I want to keep in touch with you. Why dont you ________ and have a nice cup of tea with me? I was very nervous about the test, But I ________ when I saw how easy it was.
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Reflexive pronouns are

myself yourself himself/herself itself yourselves ourselves themselves
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The Grammar Business 2001 Glenrothes College

They refer back to the subject of the sentence

I am not so sure myself. She herself has no idea who her father is. He dressed himself carefully. We didnt arrive ourselves until much, much later. You think Im beautiful? Youre beautiful yourself.

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Common error
Using the reflexive pronoun instead of the personal pronoun as the object of the sentence e.g. He gave it to myself Which should be He gave it to me.

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So its wrong to say

Jane was very sure of myself

It doesnt make sense. Jane can be sure of herself, but not of myself. The reflexive pronoun has to agree with the subject of the sentence, which in this case, is Jane.
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The Grammar Business 2001 Glenrothes College

It is correct to say
Jane was very sure of herself - and very sure of me. She was fooling herself actually, but she wasnt fooling me. Thats what I told myself at the time. Later, it transpired that we had both, to some extent, been deceiving ourselves.

The Grammar Business 2001 Glenrothes College

And it is correct to say

My friend and I went out on Saturday.
But not My friend and myself went out on Saturday.

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Whats wrong with this one?

He gave a cheque to her and to myself.

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It should be
He gave a cheque to her and to me.

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The Grammar Business 2001 Glenrothes College

Correct the following sentences, then compare what youve got with the answers on the next slide
He hit her, but neither myself, nor Jeremy. The Prime Minister has informed myself of the seriousness of the situation. The slug has slimed itself and myself too. The King and myself are delighted to meet yourselves. He has informed himself but not yourselves of the situation.
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The Grammar Business 2001 Glenrothes College

Answers below

He hit her, but neither me, nor Jeremy. The Prime Minister has informed me of the seriousness of the situation. The slug has slimed itself and me too. The King and I are delighted to meet you. He has informed himself but not you of the situation.
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The Grammar Business 2001 Glenrothes College

Health warning:
grammatical rules tend to change through common usage in speech, it is becoming more common to use the reflexive pronoun (myself) instead of the personal pronoun (me) to add emphasis so you may well hear: The offer was extended to myself. but dont write it!
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The Grammar Business 2001 Glenrothes College

If this still confuses you

try the exercise on Handout Five

(go on yoursel son!)

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The Grammar Business 2001 Glenrothes College