verb phrase · academic
X falls short of Y
Say that X does not reach a standard or is less than Y; it fails to meet expectations.
Examples
“The country's health policy falls short of international standards.”
“His explanation fell short of clarifying the issue.”
“The revenue figures fall short of last year's projections.”
Band 8 sentence
“Although the proposal was ambitious, it ultimately falls short of addressing the community's most urgent needs.”
Collocations
- fall short of expectations
- fall short of the target
Common mistakes
fall short from the goal→fall short of the goal
The plan falls short in expectations.→The plan falls short of expectations.
Say it for a higher band
5be not good enough→6fail to meet→7+fall short of
Synonyms
fail to meet
lag behind
Easily confused
lag behind
“Smaller companies often lag behind in adopting new technologies.”
Related words
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In Comparatives
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