“fall back upon”(也常写作fall back on,更口语化)是一个常用的英语短语,核心含义是“退而依靠;求助于;依赖(备用的人/物/方法)”,强调当主要方案、资源或支持失效时,转而依托“备用选项”来解决问题。
表示在主要途径行不通的情况下,依赖“次要但可靠的替代物”(可以是资源、技能、人际关系、计划等)。相当于“turn to as a last resort”或“rely on when other options fail”。
1、 搭配结构:
通常为 fall back upon/on + 名词/代词(接“被依赖的对象”)。
2、 时态变化:
现在时:fall back upon/on
过去时:fell back upon/on
现在分词:falling back upon/on
通过不同语境的例子,更清晰理解其用法:
If I lose my job, I can fall back upon my savings to pay the rent.
(如果我失业了,我可以靠储蓄来付房租。)
When she’s feeling overwhelmed, she always falls back on her sister for emotional support.
(当她感到压力大时,总是向姐姐寻求情感支持。)
After the tech industry downturn, many programmers had to fall back upon their basic coding skills to find work.
(科技行业低迷后,许多程序员不得不靠基础编程技能找工作。)
Our original trip to Europe was canceled, so we fell back on our backup plan to visit Japan instead.
(我们原本的欧洲之行取消了,所以转而执行备用计划去日本。)
As a novelist, she often falls back upon her childhood memories when she struggles with writer’s block.
(作为小说家,当她遇到写作瓶颈时,常靠童年记忆寻找灵感。)
fall back 本身是“后退;撤退”的意思(指空间或行动上的退缩):
The soldiers fell back when they were outnumbered.(士兵们因寡不敌众而撤退。)
fall back upon/on 则是“依赖”(抽象的“依托”),必须加宾语。
可与以下短语互换(语境略有差异,但核心均为“依赖”):
rely on
depend on
turn to
resort to
总之,“fall back upon/on”突出“备用性”和“必要性”——是在“主力失效”时的“兜底选择”,常用于描述应对突发情况或困境的策略。