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MUSCOVITE Posted 14 years ago
Vocabulary

Antonym for TO SPEAK UP

Hi,

TO SPEAK UP = to begin to speak more loudly

What phrasal verb shall I use to convey the opposite idea (to begin to speak LESS loudly)?

What does TO SPEAK DOWN mean (assuming such phrasal verb exists)?

mus-te
  

Top answer

The only phrasal verb I can think of right now is "keep down". Usually you will say "keep your voice down" when you want someone to lower his/her voice.

— Ivanhr

  • The only phrasal verb I can think of right now is "keep down".
  • Usually you will say "keep your voice down" when you want someone to lower his/her voice.
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7 Answers
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The only phrasal verb I can think of right now is "keep down". Usually you will say "keep your voice down" when you want someone to lower his/her voice.
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Hi,

Speak up means raise one's voice, but also express oneself, speak clear. So as antonyms we might have, according to my dictionaries: bumble, misrepresent, misspeak ... maybe others.
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OK. Thank you!

Just one more thing before we can close this micro-"thread"....

I wonder if the following requests would be 100% polite and not imperative ( = "humble requests" :- ) ... and natural too?
  • "could you keep your voice down?"
  • "Keep you voice down, will you?"
  • "Why don't you lover your voice a little?"
mus-te
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As a polite request I'd use:

Would you mind if ...? ( Also Do you mind ...? )
Could you possibly ....?
I was wondering if ...?
Excuse me,could you / can you ...?
Is it all right if ...?
and so on....

In my opinion is okay if you say: "could you keep your voice down?"
( might be okay enough also this one: "Keep you voice down, will you?" )

One
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For me, #1 is ok but #2 and #3 are imperative (at least to a certain degree). I would rewrite #3 as "Could you (please) lower your voice a little?"
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Would you please speak softer?
Or you can say:
Would you please keep your voice down?
These are the polite forms to express this sentence.
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