phrasal verb · neutral
put down to
UK/pʊt ˈdaʊn tuː/US/pʊt ˈdaʊn tu/PUT DOWN TO
to say that something is caused by a particular thing
Examples
“She put the students' poor results down to lack of practice.”
“Most economists put the slowdown down to lower consumer spending.”
“Don't put everything down to bad luck; think about what you can change.”
Band 8 sentence
“Most experts now put the recent spike in housing prices down to a combination of low interest rates and limited supply.”
Collocations
- put sth down to + noun
- generally put down to
Word family
Common mistakes
They put the failure because of lack of funds.→They put the failure down to a lack of funds.
I put it down for bad weather.→I put it down to bad weather.
Say it for a higher band
5think it's because→6attribute to→7+put down to
Synonyms
attribute to
ascribe to
Easily confused
attribute to
“Researchers largely attribute the change to policy shifts.”
Related words
Learn this word with the rest of its set, and get reminded at the right time.
In put …
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