Translation guide
How to express 'fall over' in Japanese, covering physical falling, objects tipping, and figurative uses.
A person or animal loses balance and falls to the ground.
Most common word for a person or animal falling over, often by tripping or slipping.
The child tripped on a stone and fell over.
It's easy to fall over on rainy days.
To fall over from a standing position, often used for people collapsing or large objects falling. Implies falling flat.
He was so tired he fell over onto the bed.
The bookshelf fell over in the earthquake.
Onomatopoeic adverb for falling over with a thud, often used in casual or playful contexts.
I slipped on a banana peel and fell over with a thud.
An upright object loses balance and falls to its side.
To be extremely eager to do something, often used figuratively.
Literally 'me first', used to describe people scrambling or falling over each other to do something.
People were falling over themselves to get on the bus.
Competing to do something, often used in contexts like 'falling over each other to help'.
They were falling over themselves to help her.
To be so drunk that one cannot stand properly.
転ぶ (korobu) is used for tripping or slipping and falling, typically for people and animals. 倒れる (taoreru) is used for falling from an upright position, often for objects or people collapsing. For a person tripping, use 転ぶ; for a person fainting or a tree falling, use 倒れる.
I tripped on a stone and fell over.
He collapsed from exhaustion.
落ちる (ochiru) means 'to fall down' from a height, like falling off a cliff or dropping. It is not used for falling over from a standing position. Use 転ぶ or 倒れる instead.
To tip over or flip over, often implying a complete overturn.
The chair fell over (tipped over).
He drinks himself into a stupor every night (falls over drunk).