**Jiaying
**Hello, and welcome to The English We Speak with me, Jiaying…
Neil… and me, Neil. Hey Jiaying, would you like to play some games online with me?
**Jiaying
**Sure thing – I’m down for that!
Neil I’m sorry to hear that – why are you so sad?
**Jiaying
**No Neil, I said I’m down for it – which means I’m happy to do it, or I’m interested in doing it. So, in this case, yes – I’m down for some online gaming!
NeilAhhh, got you! You can say ‘up for something’ or ‘down for something’ to mean that you want to do it. When ‘up’ or ‘down’ are followed by the preposition ‘for’ it changes the meaning. I got confused, because ‘I’m down’ can mean that you’re sad.
**Jiaying
**That’s right! If you say ‘I’m down’ it means sad.
NeilWell, I hope you’re going to be nice when we play – I’m not up for losing!
**Jiaying
**Sorry Neil, I was born to win! Let’s talk more about it after these examples.
ExamplesI’m up for meeting up later, but it will have to be after work. I have a lot to do today.
Steve isn’t up for going to that restaurant as he doesn’t like spicy food. I think he’d be down for that vegetarian place.
I wasn’t really down for going to the cinema. I’ve been isolating at home.
**Jiaying
**You’re listening to The English We Speak from BBC Learning English, and we’re talking about the expressions ‘up for something’ and ‘down for something’ which are used to say that someone is interested in doing something.
NeilYou can also use ‘I’m game’ to say the same thing! For example, ‘I’m game for meeting up tonight!’
**Jiaying
**That’s right. In fact, I’m down for adding ‘I’m game’ to my vocabulary.
NeilVery funny, Jiaying! I really enjoy our banter at work! I’m always up for hearing some of your jokes!
**Jiaying
**And I’m always game for making you laugh!
NeilWell, I think I better start looking for some more prepositions before we over teach ‘up’ and ‘down’.
**Jiaying
**Good idea! See you next time! Bye, Neil!
NeilGoodbye.