Fall over means to lose your balance and fall (about a person) or to tip over (about something standing up). A person falls over when they trip or slip and end up on the ground. An object falls over when it topples onto its side where it stood: the bike fell over. With an object, fall over something means to trip on it: I fell over the dog.
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fall over (on the ice / in the street); fall over + something; something + falls over
- I fell over on the icy pavement and hurt my knee on the way to work.
- Be careful, the kids keep falling over the bags in the hallway.
- The wind was so strong that our tent fell over in the night.
What changed
First versionThe vase fell over from the table and broke.
RevisionThe vase fell off the table and broke.
Fall over describes falling on the spot: the vase would simply tip over on the table. To say it came off the table, you need fall off: fell off the table. From isn't needed, because off already means “from a surface”.
Fall down means to fall downwards or collapse completely: She fell down the stairs, the old wall fell down. For a person falling on flat ground, British English more often says fall over and American English fall down: He fell over while running.
Your turn
My little son tripped on the carpet and ___, but he didn't cry.
Show the answer
fell over — The boy tripped on the carpet and fell to the floor: that's fell over. Fell off needs a surface to fall from (a chair, a bike), and here he didn't fall from anything.
Describe a time you fell over. Say where it happened and what you tripped over or slipped on.
Last winter I fell over a loose paving stone outside my office and dropped my coffee.
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