In this English speaking lesson, from Daily Video Vocabulary you will learn how to use the idiom – ‘To feel down in the dumps’. There are moments in your life that make you feel extremely sad and depressed. It could be an unpleasant event, bad news or anything that makes you unhappy.
The idiom ‘down in the dumps’ basically means to be disheartened or to be in a depressed state of mind. ‘Down’ in the idiom is used to express feeling low or depressed. So when you feel down in the dumps, you feel extremely low, sad and miserable. You don’t have much interest in anything at that moment. You simply lack enthusiasm. Being down in the dumps is a negative feeling or an emotion to deal with. It can negatively affect various aspects of your life like your work your family life and definitely leaves you feeling more stressed.
In this idiom, ‘feel’ is the verb as it shows the action of experiencing an emotion. Its past and past participle form is ‘felt’. ‘To be’ verb is also used in this idiom as it shows the action of being in a sad mood. Its present forms are ‘is’, ‘am’, ‘are’ , past forms are ‘was’ and ‘were’, its past participle form is ‘been’.
For example, you have lost your job all of a sudden. You start searching for a new job but get rejected multiple times You feel sad and low because you are out of a job and unable to get a new one. You feel it’s the worst phase of your life. You lose interest in other things You get depressed and disheartened. It means you are down in the dumps.
Example sentences for practice :
Example 01: Real life based movies can often make you feel down in the dumps as they portray the harsh realities of life.
Example 02: Lara spends time watching the sunset when she’s down in the dumps
Example 03: Even though Samantha feels down in the dumps due to her personal problems, she puts up a smiling face at work.
Example 04: Her liking for sad songs leaves Juliet her feeling down in the dump when she listens to them.
Example 05: When the nurse sees her patients suffering, she feels low and down in the dumps.
Example 06: The coach gave the team a pep talk after losing the match so they don’t feel down in the dumps.
Example 07: When Henry was denied a promotion at his workplace, he was down in the dumps as all his efforts went in vain.
Example 08: James saved his pocket money and bought a new mobile phone. He was down in the dumps as he lost it.
When was the last time you felt down in the dumps? Who cheered you up?