Fell is the past form of fall, and felt is the past form of feel. The words sound alike, but fell is about falling or a sudden change of state (fell asleep, fell ill), while felt is about sensations and opinions (felt tired, felt that it was wrong).
fell or felt — can you pick the right one?
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fall → fell → fallen; feel → felt → felt; fell + off/over/asleep/ill; felt + adjective (tired, better)
- I slipped on the wet stairs and fell, but luckily I didn't break anything.
- After a long walk in the fresh air, I felt much better.
- The baby fell asleep in the car before we even left the city.
What changed
First versionI was so tired that I felt asleep on the sofa.
RevisionI was so tired that I fell asleep on the sofa.
Felt asleep comes from the similar sound: fell and felt differ by one letter, and the word tired nearby makes it seem like a feeling. But the phrase for starting to sleep is fall asleep, and its past is fell asleep. Asleep isn't a feeling but a state of sleep that you “fall” into.
Be careful with fall in love: it's about feelings, but the verb is fall, so the past is fell in love: They fell in love on holiday in Greece. The feeling itself is described with feel: I felt nervous before the interview.
Your turn
When the doctor said it was nothing serious, I ___ so relieved that I almost cried.
Show the answer
felt — Relief is a feeling, and feelings are described with feel: felt relieved. Fell doesn't combine like this: fall only goes with certain states, such as fell asleep or fell ill.
Think of a time you fell: on ice, on the stairs or off a bike. Write where it happened and what you felt right after.
Last winter I fell on the ice outside my office and immediately felt embarrassed because my colleagues saw it.
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