NDA (II) 2016 GAT Q25: I have come to know that the two brothers have

Q: What is the answer to NDA (II) 2016 GAT Q25?

B. Correct — B, 'fallen out'. To fall out is to quarrel and stop being on good terms, and it is the only one of the four that can be said of two people in relation to each other. 'The two brothers have fallen out' means they have quarrelled.

NDA (II) 2016 General Ability Test · Question 25 of 150

Question text verified against the official NDA question paper.

I have come to know that the two brothers have ________.

(a)fallen through
(b)fallen out
(c)fallen for
(d)fallen short

Answer

Why

Correct — B, 'fallen out'. To fall out is to quarrel and stop being on good terms, and it is the only one of the four that can be said of two people in relation to each other. 'The two brothers have fallen out' means they have quarrelled.

Why the others are wrong

(a)fallen through — Said of plans and arrangements that come to nothing — the deal fell through — and not of people.
(c)fallen for — Needs an object to follow it, and means either to be taken in by a trick or to fall in love with someone.
(d)fallen short — Also needs something to fall short of — a target, a standard — and means to fail to reach it.

Concept

'Fall out' means to quarrel; the other 'fall' phrasal verbs on this list belong to plans, tricks and targets rather than to people.

Three of the four are incomplete as printed, which is the fastest route through the item — 'fallen for' and 'fallen short' both need something after them, and 'fallen through' wants a plan rather than a pair of brothers as its subject. Only 'fallen out' can end the sentence. The fuller form takes 'with' when the other party is named, as in 'he has fallen out with his brother'.

Key facts

'Fall out with somebody' is to quarrel with them.
'Fall through' is said of a plan, a deal or an arrangement that fails to happen.
'Fall short of' is to fail to reach a required standard or amount.

Study next

Phrasal verbs built on 'fall'Phrasal verbs that must take an object and those that cannotWays of saying that people have quarrelled — fall out, break with, be at oddsUsing sentence completeness to eliminate options

Common traps

Choosing 'fallen through', which belongs to plans and not to people.
Overlooking that two of the options are left hanging without an object.

Asked as a selecting-words item — pick the words most appropriate for the blank.

Related PYQs

No directly related past PYQ was found.

Practice

practice — not a real PYQ
Fill the blank — The sale of the house ________ at the last minute.
- (a)fell out
- (b)fell through
- (c)fell for
- (d)fell short
Answer(b) fell through — a plan or deal that fails to come off falls through.
practice — not a real PYQ
Fill the blank — He ________ with his oldest friend over a trifle.
- (a)fell short
- (b)fell through
- (c)fell out
- (d)fell for
Answer(c) fell out — to fall out with someone is to quarrel with them.