Phrasal Verbs - FALL: fall for, fall in, fall behind, fall through...

Hi. Welcome again to www.engvid.com. I'm Adam. In today's lesson, we're going to look at

phrasal verbs again. I know everybody likes these. I've heard all the comments. So again,

what are phrasal verbs? Phrasal verbs are a combination of a verb and a preposition

that together have a very different meaning than the two words by themselves. Today's

phrasal verbs are going to be with the verb "fall". "Fall apart", "fall out", "fall behind",

"fall for", "fall through", "fall in", "fall in with", "fall back", "fall back on". Different

meanings to "in" and "in with", "back, and "back on". So let's start.

"Fall apart" -- two meanings we're going to look at today. The first one is, basically,

come apart or disintegrate or break off. So if any of you have ever cooked ribs -- do

you like ribs? You know, like, big stack of ribs. Boil them. Put them on the barbecue.

Cook them really, really well. Then, the meat just falls apart, just falls off the bone.

Very, very delicious. Another meaning of "fall apart" is to have a nervous breakdown. Excuse

me. A "nervous breakdown" would be -- when someone has a "nervous breakdown" -- I'm sorry

-- we say they have "fallen apart". They have lost control of themselves emotionally. So

an example. When does a person fall apart? For example, if I had a girlfriend for a very,

very long time, and one day she comes home and she says, "Bye. I'm leaving." Maybe I'll

go crazy. I'll fall apart. I won't be able to work. I won't be able to sleep. I won't

be able to do anything. That's not necessarily the way things would happen, but for some

people, that's how it happens. They just fall apart.

Okay. "Fall out" -- so I'm walking down the street. I'm happy. I'm bouncing around. Something

falls out of my pocket. Basically, it comes out and falls to the ground. That's the very

basic term, "fall out". Another meaning for "fall out" is when you have a fight or a quarrel

with someone. You talk about something; you get into a disagreement; you fight; and then,

you don't speak to each other anymore. So basically, you had a "falling out" -- if you

want the noun of it. A "falling out", a fight. Okay? So a "falling out", a fight. Another

meaning -- a third meaning -- is basically consequences. For example, in a war, there's

a big bomb dropped somewhere, and then all the fall out -- all the things that fell out

-- then, all the results. "The fall out for this attack was that many people were left

homeless or that many people were killed or that the fight extended." So the "fall out"

means the result or the consequence of something that happened, usually something bad. And

then, the consequences, of course, are also bad.

"Fall behind" -- again, more than one meaning. The first meaning of "fall behind" means to

be a little bit behind. All my friends are walking. I'm walking with my friends. They're

walking fast, and I start to fall behind. So another word is "lag". "Lag" means to be

behind, not keep pace with. We also use this when we talk about debts. Like, for example,

you have to pay bills. Every month, the phone company sends you a bill. Then you pay it

and you pay it. But one month, you missed. So then, the next month, you have to pay the

last month's bill and this month's bill. But you don't have enough money, so you let a

little bit more go. Now, you're starting to fall behind on your payments. Eventually,

the bank will come and take your phone, take your car, take your puppy -- whatever you

have that's worth any money. That's basically "fall behind". Of course, if I drop this here,

it will fall behind me. But that's too simple.

"Fall for" -- a couple of interesting meanings. "Fall for" -- one, when you "fall for something"

or "fall for someone" means you basically fall in love. Okay? I went to the bar. I met

this girl. I just "fell for" her right then and there. I fell in love. I lost control.

I wanted this person. But then, her friend came and told me that for $50, he will give

me her phone number. So I gave him $50, and he ran away. I "fell for" his trick. Okay?

So "fall for" means believe something that is not true. Okay? If you are that type of

person, you are gullible. I think I spelled that right. I'll have to check that later.

"Fall for" means believe in a trick or believe in something that is not true, or fall in love.

"Fall through" -- "fall through" means when you have a plan or you try to do something,

but then at the end, it just didn't work. Your attempt failed, so it "fell through".

So last month, I made vacation plans to go to Florida. And then, at the last minute,

my boss told me, "No. You have to come into work because there's an emergency. We need

you to do something." So my plans "fell through" -- fell through the floor, basically, and

didn't come out. Now, if you're walking along the street again and there's a sewer where

the water goes in after the rain and you drop your key and they "fall through" the hole

-- so "fall through". That's a simple explanation.

"Fall in" -- this is more, like, military. When a drill sergeant says, "Fall in", everybody

stands in line in a straight line. We all fall in line. It also basically means "get

with the program" or do what you're supposed to do. In a company, a boss, for example a

supervisor, wants all his staff to "fall in line" with the program. He wants everybody

to understand and follow what is needed to be done. "Fall in with" -- basically, it's

the same idea. It means you follow something, but you do it unintentionally. Okay? So for

example, if you fall in with the wrong people, you somehow joined these people that you didn't

really want to, but somehow, it happened. So when you hear about gangs in America, for

example, a lot of these kids who join gangs basically fell in with these people because

that's what was around them, and now, they're part of the gang; they're gangsters. They

didn't want to be, but they fell in with the wrong people who pulled them into the gang.

"Fall back" -- again, I could fall back or backwards -- both okay. "Fall back" and "fall

back on" are two different things. "Fall back on" -- for example, I'm a teacher. But if

for some reason, I couldn't teach anymore, I also went to chef school. I know how to

cook. So I can always fall back on my cooking skills to get a job. So it's like "rely",

"rely on something". I always have a backup, something that I can do if something else

doesn't work. I can fall back on that. "Fall back" also means, like, get behind, for example

in bills, payments, or bills. "I fell back on my payments. I have to catch up now."

So there you go. Some phrasal verbs for "fall". By the way, this was a request -- a couple

of requests for this. And that's why we have them here. If you have any questions, please

ask in the comments section on EngVid. Do the quiz, and I'll see you again soon.