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"Fall" is to descend by gravity (intransitive); "drop" can be transitive (to let something fall) or intransitive (to decrease abruptly).
Side-by-side comparison
To descend. Always intransitive: the thing falls on its own. Also: autumn (in American English), or a fall (a stumble).
A leaf fell from the tree and landed on my book.
He fell down the stairs and broke his wrist.
The leaves change color every fall in New England.
Intransitive: to decrease abruptly (price, temperature). Transitive: to let something fall deliberately or accidentally.
She dropped her phone and the screen cracked.
The temperature dropped ten degrees overnight. We were not prepared.
Sales dropped by thirty percent after the scandal broke.
Common mistake
- •"She fell her phone" does not exist in English: "fall" is always intransitive (something falls on its own).
- •The transitive verb is "drop" ("she dropped her phone").
- •For prices or statistics going down, both work: "prices fell/dropped".
- •For temperature, "temperatures dropped" is more common.
Trick to remember it
- •Did someone cause something to fall? "Drop" (transitive).
- •Did something fall on its own? "Fall" (intransitive).
- •Fixed expressions: "fall in love" (not "drop"), "fall asleep" (not "drop"), "drop a class" (not "fall").
Quick rule
- •"Fall" = fall on its own (intransitive).
- •"Drop" = let something fall (transitive) or decrease abruptly (numbers).
Did you know?
In American English "fall" is the name of the autumn season, while British English uses "autumn". "Fall" comes from the phrase "fall of the leaf" used in the 17th century on both sides of the Atlantic. Settlers took the expression to America where it survived; meanwhile Britain adopted "autumn" (from Latin "autumnus"). Today "autumn" sounds literary in the US and "fall" sounds informal in Britain.
Practise what you learned
Exercise 1 · Pick the right one
She _____ ped her phone and the screen cracked.
Exercise 2 · Pick the right one
She slipped on the ice and _____ in the middle of the street.
Exercise 3 · Form the word
Related word pairs
"Fall" is to drop physically; "fail" is to not succeed or to give someone a failing grade.
"Rise" means to go up or get up physically; "arise" means to come up or emerge (a problem, situation, question).
"Above" is at a higher level without contact; "over" implies covering, movement, or crossing.
'Currently' means 'at the present time'; 'actually' means 'in reality', not 'nowadays'.
Bryan López
Founder of SpeakUP Academy