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Vincent Teo Posted 18 years ago
Grammar

broke down

0Can I say,02br
02br
00(a) The car is / was broken down.02br
02br
00(b) The car broke down last week.02br
02br
00(c) The car has broken down. 0-
  

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18 Answers
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0All correct.0-
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0Hi,02br
00Can I say 'The car broke last week' instead of 'The car broke down last week.'02br
02br
00Can I say 'The car is out of order' instead of 'The car is broke down'?02br
02br
00Is there any difference between them02br
02br
00Thanks a lot.0-
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0 01blockquote
01cite10Anonymous12cite10Hi,12br
10Can I say 'The car broke last week' instead of 'The car broke down last week.' 11font11b10No12b12font12br
12br
10Can I say 'The car is out of order' instead of 'The car 11font11b10
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0Hi Feebs11,02br
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00Thanks to you for the answer.02br
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00I can't understand why 'broke' cannot be used this way as in 'The car broke last week'?02br
02br
00 Doesn't it mean to stop working properly? Or it can be used this way and not mean the same as 'The car broke down last week'?02br
02br
00Thanks a lot.0
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0Little things break. My watch broke, the plate broke.02br
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00You don't say, idiomatically, "The car broke," although 01i00grammatically 02i00it's okay.0-
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0Hi GG,02br
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00'My watch broke'02br
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00Do you mean the watch was made to separate into two or more pieces or mean it just can't work without separating into pieces?02br
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00Thank you very much.0-
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0No, the little springy thing inside may have snapped, or even the watch crystal could have a crack in it - and I'd say "Darn it! I've broken the crystal on my watch" even if it were in one piece.0-
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0Hi GG,02br
02br
00Thank you very much for your answer.02br
02br
00Can I say 'The watch has broken down'? If yes, What is the difference between ' The watch has broken down' and 'The watch has broken'? Thanks!0-
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0No, big things (especially those with engines), break down. The car breaks down, the printing press breaks down, the backhoe breaks down.02br
02br
00Little things break.0-
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0Hi GG,02br
02br
00Thank you so much for your clear explanation.02br
02br
00It is fine to say 'The car is out of order' , then is it ok to say 'The watch is out of order' ? If yes, does it mean the same as 'The watch has broken/ is broken'?02br
02br
00Thank you very much.0-
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