I haven’t done a lesson in a while, so let’s look at the word down.
Mini Lesson: Down
By Janice Seagraves
The word down is a direction, if used correctly it can indicate where things are headed. But I tend to find it creeping into my sentences and I bet I’m not the only one.
Example: Roger sat down on the chair.
Here we see down used to indicate that Roger is sitting, but in this sentence down is a given so we don’t really need it.
Correct: Roger sat on the chair.
Example: Roger walked down the street.
Again the word down is a given. He wouldn’t be floating along the street, now would he?
Correct: Roger walked along the street.
Example: Roger set his coffee cup down on the table.
Again down is a given.
Correct: Roger set his coffee cup on the table.
Example: Roger looked down at the small child.
A small child will be lower than a grown man (we hope) unless the child is up a tree.
Correct: Roger looked at the small child.
You’ll find deleting down in your writing will lower your word count, which is always a good thing.
When is it okay to use down? You can use down to indicate a direction.
Example: The cat climbed down the tree.
Example: The leaf floated down.
Example: The bird fluttered down onto the lawn.
Janice Seagraves, Author 