fall out
No objectThis verb takes no object at all.
How to say it
Stress the particle, not the verb: fall OUT. Saying “FALL out” is the clearest learner tell — the verb stays light and the particle carries the beat.
Link across the gap. The final /l/ of “fall” moves onto the particle and starts its syllable: “fall out” is said “fa-lout”. Pausing between the words is what makes phrasal verbs sound recited rather than spoken.
Verb vs noun
As a noun the stress flips to the front: the verb is fall OUT, the noun is FALLING-OUT. Same two words, different beat — “to fall OUT” is the action, “a falling-out” is the thing. Getting this backwards makes the sentence land oddly even when every sound is right.
2 meanings
- 1
To quarrel and stop being friends.
- “They fell out over a misunderstanding and haven't spoken in years.”
- “The two founders fell out and the company split.”
Similar: quarrel, argue
- 2
(Of hair or teeth) to become detached.
- “His hair started falling out during the treatment.”