Phrase · B2 · Neutral · plans, deals, and arrangements
fall through
fawl THROO Stress through; begin it with the unvoiced th sound in think.
Fail to happen or reach completion, especially when a plan, deal, or arrangement was expected to go ahead.
propasti; izjaloviti se; ne ostvariti se — za plan, dogovor ili posao
Use it
Our apartment purchase fell through when the seller accepted another offer.
An expected transaction did not reach completion.
If the weekend trip falls through, we can spend Saturday exploring our own city.
The subject is the plan that may fail, not the person canceling it.
Build the sentence
plan/deal/arrangement + fall through · fell through · has/have fallen through
Memory scene
Two people reach for a handshake across a paper bridge, but the bridge collapses between them. The arrangement never comes together.
Watch out
Fall through is intransitive: the deal fell through, not we fell through the deal. Use fell through for the past and has fallen through for the present perfect. Falling through the cracks means being overlooked and is a different idiom.
Nearby language
A direct way to say a planned event or arrangement does not proceed.
Names someone’s deliberate cancellation; fall through focuses on the failed arrangement.
Means be overlooked or neglected by a system, rather than fail as an arrangement.
Make it yours
Trebalo je da iznajmite stan, ali je vlasnik u poslednjem trenutku odustao. Dogovor nije realizovan.