Meaning & use
to fall through
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Meanings
verbintransitive
if a plan, deal, or arrangement falls through, it fails or does not happen
Grammar: No object; the thing that fails is the subject: The deal fell through.
Patterns
- something falls through
- fall through at the last minute
Our trip to Italy fell through when the flight was canceled.
The house sale fell through because the buyer could not get a loan.
I had a job interview, but it fell through at the last minute.
verbintransitive
to drop or pass down through a hole or opening
Grammar: No object; often used with through: The coin fell through the crack.
Patterns
- fall through something
- fall through a hole
The keys fell through a hole in my pocket.
Rain was falling through the broken roof.
Common combinations
- fall through the cracks
- Some students fall through the cracks and never get help.
- the deal fell through
- The deal fell through after weeks of talks.
- plans fall through
- Our plans fell through when it rained all weekend.
- fall through at the last minute
- The concert fell through at the last minute.
Synonyms and how they differ
- collapse
- Stronger and more dramatic; a deal can collapse, but a small arrangement usually just falls through.
- fail
- More general; it can describe any kind of failure, while fall through is mainly for plans and agreements.
- be canceled
- Used for events that are officially stopped; fall through often suggests a natural or unexpected failure.
Opposites
Commonly confused: to fall through or fall out?
to fall through vs fall out
Fall out means to argue and stop being friends, or for hair to come out; it does not mean a plan fails.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'fall through' correctly?
Choose one answer.
Fall through is intransitive, so the thing that fails is the subject: The contract fell through. The other options use it transitively or in the passive, which is not correct.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “to fall through”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.