verb / noun · formal
fall
/fɔːl/FALL
task1
to become lower in level or amount; a decrease
Examples
“The employment rate fell sharply in 2009.”
“There was a gradual fall in demand during the summer.”
“After 2016 sales began to fall.”
Band 8 sentence
“After an initial rise the index fell gradually over the next three quarters, ending the year below its starting point.”
Collocations
- fall sharply / fall steadily / a fall in
- fall to a low of
Word family
fall verbfall nounfallen past participlefalling adjective / gerund
Common mistakes
write 'fell down' for a statistic (e.g., 'sales fell down by 10%')→write 'fell' or 'fell by 10%'
use passive 'was fallen' in Task 1→use 'fell' or 'had fallen' depending on tense
Say it for a higher band
5go down→6decrease→7+fall
Synonyms
drop
decline
Easily confused
drop
“The temperature dropped by five degrees overnight.”
Related words
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In Rise & fall
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