diff --git a/spec/app/point-spec.coffee b/spec/app/point-spec.coffee
index 322bac5f2..d4d78715c 100644
--- a/spec/app/point-spec.coffee
+++ b/spec/app/point-spec.coffee
@@ -25,3 +25,9 @@ describe "Point", ->
       expect(new Point(5, 0).compare(new Point(6, 1))).toBe -1
       expect(new Point(5, 5).compare(new Point(4, 1))).toBe 1
       expect(new Point(5, 5).compare(new Point(5, 3))).toBe 1
+
+  describe ".translate(other)", ->
+    it "returns a translated point", ->
+      expect(new Point(1,2).translate([2,4])).toEqual [3,6]
+      expect(new Point(1,2).translate([-1])).toEqual [0,2]
+      expect(new Point(1,2).translate([0,-2])).toEqual [1,0]
diff --git a/spec/app/range-spec.coffee b/spec/app/range-spec.coffee
index 780962a5f..c73111ace 100644
--- a/spec/app/range-spec.coffee
+++ b/spec/app/range-spec.coffee
@@ -32,3 +32,8 @@ describe "Range", ->
       expect(new Range([2, 1], [3, 10]).union(new Range([1, 1], [2, 10]))).toEqual [[1, 1], [3, 10]]
       expect(new Range([2, 1], [3, 10]).union(new Range([2, 5], [3, 1]))).toEqual [[2, 1], [3, 10]]
       expect(new Range([2, 5], [3, 1]).union(new Range([2, 1], [3, 10]))).toEqual [[2, 1], [3, 10]]
+
+  describe ".translate(startPoint, endPoint)", ->
+    it "returns a range translates by the specified start and end points", ->
+      expect(new Range([1, 1], [2, 10]).translate([1])).toEqual [[2, 1], [3, 10]]
+      expect(new Range([1, 1], [2, 10]).translate([1,2], [3,4])).toEqual [[2, 3], [5, 14]]
diff --git a/src/app/edit-session.coffee b/src/app/edit-session.coffee
index f0be412a5..c3eaa685a 100644
--- a/src/app/edit-session.coffee
+++ b/src/app/edit-session.coffee
@@ -369,9 +369,7 @@ class EditSession
 
       @foldBufferRow(foldedRow) for foldedRow in foldedRows
 
-      newStartPosition = [selection.start.row - 1, selection.start.column]
-      newEndPosition = [selection.end.row - 1, selection.end.column]
-      @setSelectedBufferRange([newStartPosition, newEndPosition], preserveFolds: true)
+      @setSelectedBufferRange(selection.translate([-1]), preserveFolds: true)
 
   moveLineDown: ->
     selection = @getSelectedBufferRange()
@@ -408,9 +406,7 @@ class EditSession
 
       @foldBufferRow(foldedRow) for foldedRow in foldedRows
 
-      newStartPosition = [selection.start.row + 1, selection.start.column]
-      newEndPosition = [selection.end.row + 1, selection.end.column]
-      @setSelectedBufferRange([newStartPosition, newEndPosition], preserveFolds: true)
+      @setSelectedBufferRange(selection.translate([1]), preserveFolds: true)
 
 
   mutateSelectedText: (fn) ->
diff --git a/src/app/point.coffee b/src/app/point.coffee
index b740027f6..e471ad6c6 100644
--- a/src/app/point.coffee
+++ b/src/app/point.coffee
@@ -34,6 +34,10 @@ class Point
 
     new Point(row, column)
 
+  translate: (other) ->
+    other = Point.fromObject(other)
+    new Point(@row + other.row, @column + other.column)
+
   splitAt: (column) ->
     if @row == 0
       rightColumn = @column - column
diff --git a/src/app/range.coffee b/src/app/range.coffee
index 3464a3bce..136f52f15 100644
--- a/src/app/range.coffee
+++ b/src/app/range.coffee
@@ -48,6 +48,9 @@ class Range
   add: (point) ->
     new Range(@start.add(point), @end.add(point))
 
+  translate: (startPoint, endPoint=startPoint) ->
+    new Range(@start.translate(startPoint), @end.translate(endPoint))
+
   intersectsWith: (otherRange) ->
     if @start.isLessThanOrEqual(otherRange.start)
       @end.isGreaterThanOrEqual(otherRange.start)