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Glite Dictionary
to come down to

to come down to

351 3.8
To depend on one main thing
  • phrasal verb
translation icon : reducirse a
  • In the end, it all comes down to making the right choices.
  • ultimately comes down to
  • really comes down to
  • comes down to what you want

When does acting just come down to just the person?

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Examples

  • Here's what it all comes down to.

    Rescue Dawn (2007)

  • And what I found is it all came down to one thing.

    Evan Carmichael

  • And this just comes down to one key question.

  • And so the real question comes down to how long.

  • OK, this all comes down to what is effective.

  • I think it then comes down to the scientific method.

    Chris Williamson

  • I think a lot of that comes down to how busy everyone is.

    Academic text (2003)

  • Eventually, the decision of which training method to use comes down to a question of cost.

    Academic text (1996)

  • The problem appears to come down to a lack of consumer trust.

    Academic text (1999)

  • But you know, I think that what it comes down to is, is discipline.

    The Financial Diet

Synonyms

to come down
vsto come down to
361 4.0

To depend on the main point

covers cases where things depend on or are decided by that factor

Antonyms

to ignore
∞ 1.0

Choose not to pay attention to someone or something

to disregard
119 3.9

Ignore something or someone on purpose

Surface Forms

come down to infinitive
came down to past
come down to past participle
coming down to present participle
comes down to third person singular

Morphology

come + down + to

There is a transparent metaphorical link: 'come' (arrive) + 'down' (to a lower/central point) gives a plausible sense of things being reduced or arriving at a single factor, so a learner who knows the parts can infer the general idea. However, the expression is a grammaticalized phrasal verb with an abstract, non-literal extension and precise usage (e.g. 'comes down to X' = 'depends on X') that is not fully predictable without exposure, so it is only partially transparent.

Etymology

Come down to comes from a simple image: many things come down to one point, like water flowing into a single drain. So, when you say something 'comes down to' one thing, you mean it 'depends on' or is 'decided by' that single fact.