英语短语fall upon是一个多义短语,核心含义围绕“突然发生/施加于某人/某物”,具体可分为以下几种常见用法,结合含义、结构、例句说明:
“fall upon”本质是及物动词短语(需接宾语),有时可与更口语化的fall on互换,但“fall upon”更偏向书面或正式语境。
指“突然对某人/某物发起暴力攻击”,强调动作的突发性和攻击性。
结构:攻击者(主语)+ fall upon + 被攻击者(宾语)
例句:
The bandits fell upon the travelers and robbed them.(强盗突然袭击了旅行者,抢走了他们的东西。)
Wolves fell upon the injured deer in the forest.(狼在森林里袭击了那只受伤的鹿。)
指“不幸、灾难等突然降临到某人/某地”,强调事件的意外性。
结构:灾难/事件(主语)+ fall upon + 受影响者(宾语)
例句:
A terrible earthquake fell upon the small village last night.(昨晚一场可怕的地震突然降临这个小村庄。)
Misfortune fell upon him when he lost both his job and his home.(当他同时失去工作和房子时,不幸降临到他身上。)
固定句型It falls/fell upon sb. to do sth.,表示“某人有责任/轮到某人做某事”(带有“义务”的意味,不是简单的顺序)。
结构:It + falls/fell upon + 某人 + to do sth.
例句:
It fell upon me to tell the family about their son’s accident.(轮到我告诉这家人他们儿子的事故了。)
In many cultures, it falls upon the eldest child to care for aging parents.(在许多文化中,照顾年迈父母的责任落在长子/女身上。)
指“充满热情或急切地开始做某事”(常与食物、任务等搭配)。
结构:主语 + fall upon + 事物(宾语)+ 副词(表态度,如eagerly/hungrily)
例句:
As soon as the food was served, the kids fell upon it hungrily.(食物一端上来,孩子们就饥肠辘辘地吃起来。)
We fell upon the cleaning task with determination after the party.(派对结束后,我们决心着手打扫卫生。)
常与hard times(艰难时期)、misfortune(不幸)等词搭配,表示“陷入困境”。
结构:主语 + fall upon + 困难/不幸(宾语)
例句:
Many small businesses fell upon hard times during the pandemic.(疫情期间,许多小企业遭遇了艰难时期。)
He fell upon misfortune when his house burned down.(他的房子被烧毁时,他遭遇了不幸。)
互换性:多数情况下,“fall upon”和“fall on”可互换(如“责任落在我身上”= The responsibility falls on/upon me.)。
语体差异:“fall upon”更正式(用于书面语、严肃语境),“fall on”更口语化(日常对话常用)。
fall over:摔倒(如He fell over the rock. 他被石头绊倒了。)
fall down:跌倒(如She fell down the stairs. 她从楼梯上摔下来了。)
fall off:从…掉下来(如The apple fell off the tree. 苹果从树上掉下来了。)
总结:“fall upon”的核心是“突然施加/发生”,结合不同语境可表达“袭击、降临、轮到、着手、遭遇”等含义,关键看搭配的宾语和上下文。通过例句记忆会更直观!