Turn down has two common meanings in workplace English. One is literal and mechanical — adjusting a physical setting. The other is about rejecting something offered or requested.
- To reduce the level or intensity of something (volume, brightness, heat).
- To reject or decline an offer, request, or proposal.
Sense 1: reducing a level or setting
Used with a physical or adjustable setting, turn down means to lower its intensity.
"Can you turn down the volume on the call? There's an echo."
"The office is freezing — someone turned the AC down too far."
"He turned the notifications down so he could focus during the sprint."
This sense is close to lower or reduce, and it's purely about intensity — nothing to do with accepting or refusing anything.
Sense 2: rejecting an offer or request
Used with an offer, request, invitation, or proposal, turn down means to decline it.
"She turned down the promotion because it meant relocating."
"We turned down the vendor's proposal — the pricing didn't work for us."
"He was offered the role but turned it down at the last minute."
This sense is close to decline or reject, and it's specifically about a choice — someone offered something, and the answer was no.
How to tell the two senses apart
Look at the object. If it's a physical setting (volume, heat, lights, notifications), you're in the "reduce" sense. If it's an offer, request, job, invitation, or proposal, you're in the "reject" sense.
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Start learning for free →"Turn down the lights before the presentation starts." (reduce — a physical setting)
"Turn down the offer if the terms don't work for you." (reject — a proposal)
Both senses share the same word order flexibility: the object can go in the middle or at the end.
"Turn the volume down" / "Turn down the volume" — both correct.
"Turn the offer down" / "Turn down the offer" — both correct.
The one exception: if the object is a pronoun (it, them), it must go in the middle, never at the end.
"Turn it down." (correct)
"Turn down it." (incorrect)
Common mistakes
Mistake 1: Using "turn down" for a physical setting when you mean reject, or vice versa.
Confusing without context:
"I turned down the meeting." (Does this mean you declined to attend, or you lowered something related to the meeting? In practice, this almost always means "declined," but pairing it with a truly physical object like volume avoids any ambiguity.)
Mistake 2: Putting a pronoun object at the end.
Wrong:
"Turn down them." / "Turn down it."
Correct:
"Turn them down." / "Turn it down."
Mistake 3: Softening a rejection without acknowledging it as one.
Turn down is direct and appropriate in most professional contexts, but when writing to an external party, pairing it with a brief reason keeps it polite:
"We've decided to turn down the proposal, mainly due to timeline constraints on our end."
Practice scenarios
Practice using turn down in situations like:
- asking a colleague to adjust volume, lighting, or another setting during a call
- declining a job offer, promotion, or assignment diplomatically
- explaining to a team why a vendor proposal was rejected
- turning down an invitation to an event or meeting without sounding dismissive
Useful practice phrases:
- "Could you turn down the [volume/heat/lights]?"
- "I've decided to turn down the offer."
- "We turned down the proposal because..."
- "Thanks for the invitation, but I'll have to turn it down this time."
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