Fall-down past tense
Meaning of fall-down
collapse or fail.
Infinitive
- 1. Leaves fall down gently from the trees in autumn.
- 2. Kids often fall down while learning to ride a bike.
- 3. Prices fall down when there is too much supply and not enough demand.
Past Simple
- 1. She slipped on the ice and fell down hard on the sidewalk.
- 2. The old tree finally fell down during the storm last night.
- 3. He was running so fast that he tripped and fell down, scraping his knee.
Past Participle
- 1. The vase has fallen down from the shelf.
- 2. After the intense winds, many trees had fallen down across the park.
- 3. The ancient ruins will have fallen down before the next century.
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Bare infinitive
- a. To describe habits, general truths, repeated actions, or unchanging situations.Example. He usually falls down when he tries to ice skate.Example. First, you fall down, then you learn to get up when learning to ski.Example. The show falls down on the popularity chart every week.
- b. To give instructions or directions.Example. He usually falls down when he tries to ice skate.Example. First, you fall down, then you learn to get up when learning to ski.Example. The show falls down on the popularity chart every week.
- c. To express fixed arrangements, present or future.Example. He usually falls down when he tries to ice skate.Example. First, you fall down, then you learn to get up when learning to ski.Example. The show falls down on the popularity chart every week.
Past Simple
- a. To describe actions completed in the past at a specific time.Example. He fell down during the race yesterday.Example. She fell down, stood up, and then continued to run.Example. When he was a child, he constantly fell down but always got back up.
- b. To narrate a series of completed actions in the past.Example. He fell down during the race yesterday.Example. She fell down, stood up, and then continued to run.Example. When he was a child, he constantly fell down but always got back up.
- c. To mention past habits.Example. He fell down during the race yesterday.Example. She fell down, stood up, and then continued to run.Example. When he was a child, he constantly fell down but always got back up.
Past Participle
- a. To form the present perfect tense, describing actions that occurred at an undefined time in the past or actions that started in the past but continue to the present.Example. He has fallen down many times while learning to skate.Example. By the time they arrived, he had already fallen down and hurt himself.Example. Many hurdles had been fallen down by the runners during the obstacle course race.Example. Be careful on the ice; that path is wellknown for being fallen down on by many.
- b. To form the past perfect tense, referring to actions completed before some point in the past.Example. He has fallen down many times while learning to skate.Example. By the time they arrived, he had already fallen down and hurt himself.Example. Many hurdles had been fallen down by the runners during the obstacle course race.Example. Be careful on the ice; that path is wellknown for being fallen down on by many.
- c. To create passive voice sentences.Example. He has fallen down many times while learning to skate.Example. By the time they arrived, he had already fallen down and hurt himself.Example. Many hurdles had been fallen down by the runners during the obstacle course race.Example. Be careful on the ice; that path is wellknown for being fallen down on by many.
- d. As an adjective to describe a state resulting from an action.Example. He has fallen down many times while learning to skate.Example. By the time they arrived, he had already fallen down and hurt himself.Example. Many hurdles had been fallen down by the runners during the obstacle course race.Example. Be careful on the ice; that path is wellknown for being fallen down on by many.
Common mistakes
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Incorrect ending
One common mistake with the phrase 'fall down' is trying to regularize its past tense by adding '-ed,' resulting in 'fall downed' instead of the correct irregular past simple form 'fell down.' This error stems from the tendency to apply the rule of adding '-ed' to form the past tense without recognizing that 'fall' is an irregular verb, which changes to 'fell' in the past tense and 'fallen' in the past participle when combined with 'down.'
— 02
Confusing forms
Another frequent error involves mixing up 'fell down' and 'fallen down,' using them interchangeably. For example, saying 'I have fell down' instead of the correct 'I have fallen down.' This mistake arises from not fully understanding the distinct roles of past simple and past participle forms in verb tenses, particularly with irregular verbs where the forms differ significantly.
— 03
Mispronunciation
Pronouncing the past simple and past participle forms of 'fall down' correctly can be challenging for learners. They might mispronounce 'fell down' (/fɛl daʊn/) as too close to the base form 'fall down' (/fɔːl daʊn/) or incorrectly stress or articulate 'fallen down' (/ˈfɔː.lən daʊn/), possibly due to the added complexity of English vowel sounds and the change in form. This highlights the difficulties in mastering the pronunciation of irregular verbs and their different tense forms, particularly for learners navigating the subtleties of English phonetics.
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