To become romantically attracted to someone, or to be deceived by a trick or lie.
To start having romantic feelings for someone, or to believe something that is not true.
2 meanings, ordered from most common to least. Color-coded by CEFR level.
To become strongly and romantically attracted to someone.
"He fell for her completely the moment she walked into the room."
I fell for you the way you fall asleep: slowly, and then all at once.
— Attributed to John Green, 'The Fault in Our Stars', 2012 (adapted from the falling asleep metaphor in the novel).
To be deceived by a trick, a lie, or a scheme; to believe something false.
"I can't believe she fell for that phishing email — the address was obviously fake."
To fall in the direction of something — physically moving downward toward it.
To start having romantic feelings for someone, or to believe something that is not true.
Has two very distinct meanings — romantic attraction and being deceived — which are usually clear from context. Both meanings are common and widely understood by native speakers. The 'deceived' sense is often used with 'trick', 'scam', 'lie', or 'line'.
Natural word combinations native speakers use most often.
The five tense forms you'll use most often.
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