He ran...

Question

He ran...A. down stairs.B. downstairs.C. Either could be used.

Cool Breeze · Accepted Answer

What's your suggestion?

CB

Perspolis · Answer

As far I know, "He ran down the stairs" is true. But I don't have any idea about the options suggested in this question. I was wondering if I could learn something from the teachers in this froum.

Thanks
Perspolis

Cool Breeze · Answer

Your multiple choice question looks like homework and as a rule we don't do that here. We generally expect people to offer their own answers to such questions first.

Downstairs is used in sentences like these:
He ran downstairs.
He is downstairs.
He came from downstairs.

As you say, down the stairs is also correct in many situations. Theoretically, down stairs is grammatical but it may be difficult to find a situation in which it could be used as it is made up of a preposition (down) and an indefinite form of a noun (stairs). You can certainly say: He was walking down a street, in which sentence we have a noun in an indefintite form (a street).

CB

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