The Phrasal Verb 'Calm Down' Explained
Updated: Aug 29
An explanation of the different meanings of the English phrasal verb 'calm down' from a native speaker, with lots of examples in context
Hello and welcome to my website for English learners all about phrasal verbs where I explain their different meanings to help you understand, learn and use them like a native.
I am sure that many of you reading this will be familiar with the English phrasal verb 'calm down' and perhaps think that you already know what it means. Regardless of whether or not this is true, I challenge you to read this article because in it, I will explain the different situations and contexts in which it can be used. You may be surprised at what you learn! In addition, I will give you lots of example sentences in context to illustrate each of its two meanings. So, let's make a start and learn what the phrasal verb 'calm down' is all about....
QUICK ANSWER: What does the phrasal verb 'calm down' meanThe phrasal verb 'calm down' has two main meanings in English....
Keep reading to learn more about how to use these in a natural way.... |
THE BASICS
CALM DOWN: KEY INFORMATION
Usage | Common |
Number of meanings | 2 |
Past tense forms | Calmed down / Calmed down |
Separable? | Yes |
The phrasal verb 'calm down' is created by combining the verb 'to calm' with the prepositional particle 'down'. With this in mind, let's first take a minute to consider what these two words mean individually and what their significance is for the phrasal verb 'calm down'....
Calm - The verb 'to calm' is one that is used quite commonly in English (but surprisingly it is not as common the phrasal verb 'calm down'). It is derived directly from the adjective 'calm', which means 'free from anger or stress' when talking about a person and 'quiet' or 'peaceful' when talking about a place - both of these will feature later in the phrasal verb explanations. When we use the verb 'to calm' it is to talk about the process of becoming calm or causing something to become calm. It is a regular verb 😃
Sally tried to calm her children after the loud noise frightened them.
My Dad's voice calmed me immediately.
The teacher managed to calm the class before the lesson started.
The crowd eventually calmed.
You should note that while the sentences above are all perfectly fine to use, in most scenarios it would be more common and natural to use 'calm down' instead.
Down - If you're capable of reading this article, then you will need no introduction to what the word 'down' means but just as a reminder, it is primarily used to describe 'a movement from a high place to a lower place' or 'a decrease'. When used in phrasal verbs, both of these literal ideas can be carried across (go down, fall down). In addition, 'down' can add the ideas of becoming quieter (settle down), stopping (shut down), defeat (bring down) and division (break down) among others to phrasal verbs.
So, now that we have covered the basics, let's move on to the different meanings of the phrasal verb 'calm down'....
MEANING 1: To become less angry or excited
CEFR Language Level | B2 - Upper intermediate |
Usage | Common |
Where is it used? | Everywhere |
Potential synonyms | To |
Separable? | Yes |
The first application of 'calm down' that we look at in this post is when it is used to refer to people and this can be either to yourself or to other people.
Are you the sort of person who gets angry easily or does it take something really bad for you to lose your temper? Either way, we are all human and anger is an emotion that we all feel from time to time. For this application of 'calm down' we are specifically talking about the process that we all experience of becoming calm again after feeling angry, stressed, panicked or upset.
Furthermore, it can also be used to talk about when children, animals or even adults who are very excited and full of energy start to feel normal.
The central idea with this application is that when you are experiencing these strong emotions, there is a lot of energy swirling around in your brain and so when you calm down, these energy levels go down and you feel calm again.
Example sentences....
My boss eventually calmed down and apologised for shouting.
Sophie needs a few minutes to calm down.
The children calmed down once their parents arrived.
I was furious at first, but I soon calmed down.
Everyone calmed down once they realised there was no danger.
My cats go crazy after dinner but they calm down again after half an hour or so.
Note that 'calm down' is frequently used with the 'self' reflexive pronouns to describe when a person becomes calm again over a period of time.
Example sentences....
I took a few deep breaths to calm myself down.
Victoria went outside for a few minutes to calm herself down.
Joseph couldn't calm himself down after the argument.
You need to calm yourself down before you speak to him.
My sister tried to calm herself down by focusing on her breathing.
I had to calm myself down before going into the meeting.
It is also likely that you will have heard or will hear in the future 'calm down' being used as an imperative to tell someone to stop being so angry or stressed about something.
Just calm down for a minute and listen to me.
Please calm down. We’re trying to help you.
Calm down! Everything’s going to be fine.
Try to calm down and think about this logically.
Everybody calm down! We need to work out what’s happened.
Calm down, both of you! Shouting isn’t going to solve anything.
Lastly, you may have noticed that apart from the reflexive ('self) sentences above, none of the others were used separably. However, it is possible to use this phrasal verb application in a separable and transitive way by placing the name of the person or animal or the corresponding pronoun between 'calm' and 'down'. Remember that pronouns always go between the noun and particle like a pronoun sandwich.
Example sentences....
I tried to calm him down, but he was still furious.
She managed to calm the children down before bedtime.
Can you calm her down? She’s really upset.
His mother eventually calmed him down.
The teacher tried to calm the students down after the argument.
It took us nearly an hour to calm Ben down.
MEANING 2: To become less busy or less severe
CEFR Language Level | B2 - Upper intermediate |
Usage | Common |
Where is it used? | Everywhere |
Potential synonyms | To quieten down, to settle down |
Separable? | Yes |
For the second of the two applications of 'calm down', we are going to stay with the same idea as the first one but this time we are thinking about non-living things and situations and therefore things that we have little or no control over.
Nouns commonly used with this application....
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In this second application, the main ideas are that something becomes less busy or it loses energy, with the end result in both cases being that something is calmer.
Let's think about it from a work perspective; if you've even been at work and it is really busy for instance in your office job you have too many emails to answer and deadlines to meet or in a restaurant all of the tables are fully booked, you would use 'calm down' when it stops being as busy as you no longer feel such a high level of stress as a result.
Example sentences....
The office usually calms down after about four o’clock.
It’s been a hectic morning, but things are finally starting to calm down.
The restaurant normally calms down after the lunchtime rush.
Once the dinner rush was over, the restaurant calmed down considerably.
The shop should calm down once the Christmas rush is over.
Things tend to calm down in the office during August.
Furthermore, 'calm down' can be used in this way to talk about tense or dramatic situations that become less so. For example, if there is a conflict of some sort, we can use 'calm down' when the levels of aggression become lower and the situation loses intensity.
Example sentences....
The situation eventually calmed down after several hours of tense negotiations.
The conflict calmed down once both sides agreed to stop fighting.
Things calmed down after the police arrived and separated the two groups.
Likewise, we can also use it with the weather. For example, as you will know it normally rains a lot in the UK and so when the rain becomes less intense or severe, we can say that it 'calms down'. Likewise, we can use it for wind, storm or snow.
Example sentences....
The wind should calm down later this evening.
The storm finally calmed down during the night.
We waited for the weather to calm down before setting off.
One last thing to note is that it is also possible to use this second application of the phrasal verb 'calm down' with illness and symptoms of them. Again, the idea is the same; when the symptoms of an illness ease or become less severe, we can say that it calms down.
Example sentences....
My stomach finally calmed down after a few hours.
The pain started to calm down after I took some painkillers.
Her cough eventually calmed down, and she managed to get some sleep.
We have now reached the end of this post and I hope that you have found it useful and that it has helped you to understand how to use the phrasal verb 'calm down' more confidently and naturally.
Feel free to leave any comments, feedback or your own sentences using 'calm down' in the section below. Also, if you found the post useful, please like and share it on social media.
Do you want to improve your phrasal verb skills?Now that you have read the article, I hope you've learned something new. However, reading is only the first step to mastering phrasal verbs: the key is practice and repetition. That's why I've created a series of PDF workbooks with clear explanations, natural example sentences, exercises, speaking questions and answer keys. This will help you understand and remember common English phrasal verbs and use them confidently in real-life situations. Browse the workbooks here and start improving your phrasal verbs skills today.... |
Thanks so much for reading and see you next time! James 😊
THE END
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