Break Down: (10)

Grammar Tense Structure:

• Present Tense: break / breaks down
• Past Tense: broke down
• Past Participle: broken down
• Present Participle: breaking down

1: When something mechanical stops working or stops functioning, it breaks down

non-separable phrasal verb

• I was late for the meeting because the train broke down in between stations.
• This second hand computer is a piece of junk! It breaks down every day!
  
• The removal company are wrapping up the fragile items so they don’t break.
• Are you wrapping the fragile items up so they don’t get damaged?
  

2: When something is old and in bad condition or not functioning properly, it is broken-down

part adjective

• The second hand phone they sold me is just a broken-down piece of junk! It never works properly!
• The gift is already wrapped up.
  

3: A breakdown is when something mechanical has broken down and not functioning

noun

• After the last breakdown in the middle of nowhere, I’ve decided top bite the bullet and buy a new car.

4: When an arrangement, agreement, negotiation, plan, or marriage breaks down, one or more persons involved is not cooperating or participating because of a disagreement or problem

non-separable phrasal verb

• After he started drinking heavily, their marriage started to break down.
• The peace negotiations broke down because neither side was willing to compromise.
  

5: A situation in which an arrangement, agreement, negotiation, plan, or marriage has broken down is a breakdown.

noun

• During the negotiations, neither side in the war would give an inch and budge, and there was a breakdown in the peace negotiations.

6: When you break down, you lose self-control and become emotionally or mentally confused.

non-separable phrasal verb

• When the judge sentenced the teenager to life in prison, he broke down and begged for mercy.
• She breaks down whenever she thinks of the that fateful night.

7: A situation in which someone has broken down and is very upset or confused is a breakdown.

noun

• Denise had a complete mental breakdown and was diagnosed with schizophrenia.

8: When something decomposes or reduces to its smallest parts or is reduced by someone to its smallest parts, it breaks down.

separable & non-separable phrasal verb

• The spider venom breaks down, its prey’s nervous system and paralyses it.
• The spider venom breaks its prey’s nervous system down and paralyses it.
  
• Anti venom drugs are used to break down the toxins from the spider bites.
• Anti venom drugs are used to break the toxins down from the spider bites.

9: When you reduce a process, situation, problem, plan, or idea to its basic parts to make it easier to understand, you break it down.

separable phrasal verb

• The project seemed really complicated, but after we broke it down, we understood it a little better.
• If you break the process down into bite sized chunks, it’s much easier to do.

10: When you use force to go through a door that is locked, you break it down.

separable & non-separable phrasal verb

• The police broke the door down and arrested the occupants.
• The police broke down the door and made some arrests.
  
• The door had to be broken down to rescue those trapped by the fire.