falls

 

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /fɔːlz/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /fɔlz/
• (cot–caught merger) IPA^(key): /fɑlz/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɔːlz

falls (plural falls)

1. A waterfall.

   Niagara Falls

   • 1983 [1981], John Crowley, “The Art of Memory”, in Little, Big, Bantam Books, →ISBN, page 475:

     And climbed up through the woods, past the lake island where the white gazebo stood up to its knees in mist, up to where a falls fell melodiously into a deep dark pool.

falls

1. plural of fall

falls

1. third-person singular simple present indicative of fall

Presumably from the genitive of Fall.

• IPA^(key): /fals/

• Audio:

  (file)

falls

1. (conditional, somewhat formal) if, in the event that

   Falls es anfängt zu regnen, müssen wir das Fenster zumachen.

   If it starts raining, we need to close the window.

   Falls es keinen Nebel gibt, genießen Sie die Sonne.

   If there is no fog, enjoy the sun.

2. (chiefly colloquial) in case, in order to be; prepared if

   Lass uns das Fenster zumachen, falls es anfängt zu regnen.

   Let's close the window, in case it starts raining.

• Falls is synonymous to the more common wenn (“if”), but has the advantage of being unambiguously conditional, while wenn can also be used temporally (meaning "when, whenever").
• Colloquially, falls is used somewhat differently than in standard German proper. It does occur in sense 1, but infrequently. In return, it is often heard in sense 2 where formal usage would require für den Fall, dass.

• (sense 1) wenn
• (sense 2) für den Fall, dass

• Fall

• “falls” in Duden online
• “falls” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache

falls n

1. indefinite genitive singular of fall

From German falls (17th c.).

• IPA^(key): /fals/, [fɑl(t)s]
• Rhymes: -ɑls

falls

1. if (in the case that)

• Homophone: fals

falls

1. indefinite genitive singular of fall
2. indefinite genitive plural of fall

• fals