Fell down into

Question

Can I say,(a) He fell down in / into /at the drain.(b) He fell in / at / into the drain.

Deborah_d · Accepted Answer

To 'fall down' as a phrase usually means to be standing then to fall on the ground. So if a child hurt himself, he may just say 'I fell down' meaning he tripped. Or you can be giving more information about the fall - 'down' can mean a long fall, as in 'I fell down the stairs'. Here the sense is 'I fell, down the stairs'.

But you need to be careful about what prepositions you use. You can say 'He fell down in the drain' means in UK English he was in the drain, and fell. Maybe also that he was outside the drain and fell into it (the same as 'He fell into the drain') but I think that is more common in US English. 'He fell down at the drain' means he wasn't in the drain at all - he was in the location, standing near it, but standing on the ground and falling on the ground.

'He fell in the drain' can mean he was already standing in the drain, and fell, but even in UK English it would usually mean he was standing on the ground and fell into the drain, the same as 'fell into the drain'. The reason 'He fell down in the drain' implies more strongly he was already in the drain is like I said in my first sentence, that the phrase 'fell down' usually means to fall from standing in the same place.

"He fell in at the drain" would also mean that "at the drain" is just a location and that he didn't get wet!

It's quite complicated but I hope that helps!

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