fall

If a person or a thing goes down, it falls, or a situation changes in some way.

The first set of sentences shows how to use "fall" as a verb. This is an irregular verb. Pay attention to how the main verb changes in various tenses.

• Apples fall from a tree when there’s a storm. (present tense)
• Jim fell off of a ladder and broke his arm. (past tense)
• The price of gas is falling. (present continuous tense)
• Some books have fallen off the shelf. (present perfect tense)
• The tent will fall over if isn’t properly set up. (future tense)

She fell over in her chair.

The word "fall" is a popular choice when talking about the beginning of a romantic relationship:

• Kim says she’s falling in love with her new boyfriend.
• Roger and Sue got married soon after they fell in love thirty years ago.
• Stevie and Pam have fallen in love.
• I think I’m falling in love. (This is a common expression.)
• We fell in love with New Orleans when we visited it the first time. (You can fall in love with a thing.)
• Edgar fell in love with his car immediately upon first laying eyes on it.

The word "fall" is also a noun:

• Students return to school in the late summer or early fall. (fall = autumn)
• Fall is a beautiful time of year in the north.
• The leader’s fall from power happened suddenly. (fall = loss of power)
• We visited Niagara Falls when we were in New York. (falls = falling water as part of a river)
• You took a big fall. Are you okay?
• Henry had a falling out with his boss. (falling out = a situation creates bad feelings between people.)

There are many idioms that use "fall."

• The business deal fell through. (fall through = It didn’t happen.)
• The teacher fell for the joke. (fall for = She believed what was told to her and was made to feel foolish.)
• Labor Day always falls on a Monday. (fall on = happen; occur)
• The drill sergeant told his troops to fall in. (fall in = line up)
• Sales at our company have fallen off. (fall off = to do poorly.)
• Plans to build a new park fell by the wayside. (fall by the wayside = to be ignored or forgotten)

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August 6, 2015