decrease up / down to

Hi,
can you tell "temperature was decreased up to -20ºC"?
I don't know if you can tell "down to" instead.
any suggestion?
thanks for helping.

Hace más lógica decir: up to, cuando algo sube y down to, cuando baja.

En tu caso diría temperature was decreased down to -20ºC.

gracias Volky, tenía serias dudas sobre el down to porque nunca lo había escuchado, aunque era lo que me sonaba mñas lógico.

Hi guys! "The temperature was decreased" is not the nicest form of English because of its passive form. How about: the temperature had decreased down to...or the temperature was lowered down to...

Hi everyone

I can think of two possible contexts here.

#1 - a situation in which someone is in control of the temperature, such as a commercial refrigeration unit

In this situation you might say:

The temperature was lowered to -20C. (I don't know how to make the degree sign on my computer)
The temperature was decreased to -20C.
or even:
The temperature was put down to -20C.

#2 - when talking about the outdoor air temperature over which you have no control

You would say:

The temperature decreased to -20C.
The temperature went down to -20C.

and if the drop in temperature is huge:
The temperature plummeted to -20C.

I'm, unfortunately, quite familiar with this temperature in the winter here in New Brunswick!

When you say 'lowered down' or 'decreased down' you're saying the same thing twice (You're being redundant).

I hope this is helpful.
Si quieres, puedo intentar explicarlo en español.

True with "the temperature was lowered down" (redundant) but not with "lowered down to" + complement. This has a similar meaning to "as far as" + complement...

Gabbi said:

True with "the temperature was lowered down" (redundant) but not with "lowered down to" + complement. This has a similar meaning to "as far as" + complement...

Click to expand...

Since to lower something is to cause it to go down, it is always redundant to say "lowered down". "The temperature was lowered (reduced, decreased) to 60 degrees."
JD

Gabbi said:

True with "the temperature was lowered down" (redundant) but not with "lowered down to" + complement. This has a similar meaning to "as far as" + complement...

Click to expand...

Hi Gabbi
I appreciate your point of view, but I'm not sure I agree with you.
Up until now we have been talking about the exact temperature of -20C.
I don't think that 'lowered (down) to' has the same meaning as 'lowered as far as'. 'Lowered (down) to -20C', in my opinion, means lowered to exactly -20C. 'Lowered as far as -20C' means the temperature could have been lowered to -18C one time and to -15C another time but the most it was lowered to was -20C.

I hope the temperature is nice where you live.

thanks everybody for helpfully suggestion.
Heather, in the original context I'm using an instrument whose temperature is controlled by me. So, after reading your recomendations, I will write it as follows: '(First run was performed using liquid nitrogen to decrease temperature to -20ºC)'
thanks everybody!

jurel said:

thanks everybody for your helpful suggestions.
Heather, in the original context I'm using an instrument whose temperature is controlled by me. So, after reading your recommendations, I will write it/the sentence as follows: '(First run was performed using liquid nitrogen to decrease temperature to -20ºC)'
thanks everybody!

Click to expand...

De nada, jurel.

'First run was performed using liquid nitrogen to decrease temperature to -20ºC.' is correct if the sentence is to appear in a written publication/presentation (in the area of science), where articles, such as 'the', are sometimes left out.

However, if you are just in conversation with someone, you would probably say 'The first run was performed using liquid nitrogen to decrease the temperature to -20ºC.'
I do not have a science background, so it could be possible that you might continue to use the 'First run was performed using liquid nitrogen to decrease temperature to -20ºC.' form when speaking to someone who also works in this area.

¡Tu inglés es mucho mejor que mi español!

Heather

Thanks Heather for your corrections and new suggestions!
Efectivamente, estoy utilizando lenguaje científico para una publicación, así que creo que está bien así, sin el 'the'.
No creo que mi inglés sea mejor que tu español...tu no has cometido ninguna falta...¡incluso las tildes están bien puestas!
saludos