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To fall behind is to make less progress, to fail to develop as quickly as somebody or something else, or to fail to reach the same standard as other people.
Examples of use:
1. Paul has been ill and he has fallen behind with his studies.
2. We got lost on our walking holiday. We were so busy chatting that we fell behind the rest of the group and they walked ahead without us.
3. The builders have fallen behind schedule on the new housing development because it has rained so much this month.
If you fall behind with your payments on a loan you do not make the payments when you should.
Example of use:
David lost his job and he has fallen behind with his mortgage payments.
infinitive – fall behind
present simple – fall behind and falls behind
-ing form – falling behind
past simple – fell behind
past participle – fallen behind
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About Angela Boothroyd
