Bird fall / drop from the sky?

[Vivianna]

Hello,
two questions I’m uncertain about:

• The bird fell from the sky.*
• The bird dropped from the sky.*

What’s the difference between the two sentences above?

• We saw the apple fall / falling off / from the tree.*

What’s the right way to write the above sentence and why?

Would anybody have any answers?
Thanks!

[Masme]

Hello Viviana,

There is no difference in meaning between your two first sentences as ‘fall’ and ‘drop’ are synonyms.

There is no significant difference in your last sentence either, however,

• We saw the apple fall from the tree = you see the apple fall from when it breaks off until it hits the ground.
• We saw the apple falling from the tree = you merely caught a fleeting glimpse of the apple falling from the tree, so only for a very short time.

I hope I may been of some help to you.

[Vivianna]

Thank you very much for your reply!
I think you’re absolutely right in your explanation on ‘fall’ - ‘falling’. I realised I was just forgetting. I get these misfires ….

Now about ‘from the tree’ - ‘off the tree’:
I know apples usually fall from the tree. But sometimes fall off the tree too. Then leaves only fall off the tree… I don’t know the exact difference there…

Then about drop and fall:
maybe both of the above sentences are right but maybe there’s a slight difference.
I’m looking for hues of meaning I guess.
Maybe too much for someone but important to me…
In any case, as far as I know fall and drop are not synonyms. Maybe you should look into that again.

Thanks again though!

[Masme]

Hi Viviana,

Drop and fall are synonyms but perhaps you might not see it that way in the context of your sentence.

I would use: ‘A bird fell from the sky, bleeding to death’ or ‘A bird dropped dead from the sky’. Then there is a difference. My first sentence actually means that the bird is dying while falling from the sky, my second that the bird is already dead when it hits the ground.