"get down to basics" is correct and usable in written English.
This phrase can be used when you want to discuss the most important elements and details in a situation, or when you want to simplify a process and get it down to the basics. For example: "Let's get down to basics and first discuss the timeline of events."
Let's drop the labels and get down to basics.
Although Johnson had a complex defensive philosophy, he could get down to basics when discussing it.
Well, emotional intelligence goes without saying, but let's get down to basics.
I needed to get down to basics and — to paraphrase George W. Bush on Vladimir Putin — catch a glimpse of Sichuan's soul.
To help ensure no surprises crop up, Ms. Tharp now requires that the bride, the bridegroom and both sets of parents (or sometimes more, if stepparents are involved) fill out questionnaires before they even get down to basics.
Also on Saturday, Nissequogue River State Park in Kings Park will get down to basics with a Saltwater Fly Fishing and Spin Fishing Clinic and Festival from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Information: (631) 581-1072.
"Getting down to basics is never very romantic.
All stylistic posturing vanishes when this book gets down to basics, creating a classic detective-story puzzle around the facts of the girl's disappearance.
It is as if the designer, who has plied his trade for 20 years, has pared away all unnecessary flourishes and got down to basics.
YadaYada.com, which provides wireless Web access to users of P.D.A.'s, those palm-size digital helpers, has gotten down to basics with its latest information service: a listing of public bathrooms in 12 North American cities.
This was a criminal trial — a day of pretrial motions, to be precise — and Ms. Trec, 36, a flute and piano teacher, was getting down to basics, making the people prove they had a case.
