fallar

See also: fällar

Catalan

Etymology

Inherited from Vulgar Latin *falliāre, from Latin fallere (and so related to Catalan fallir). Compare Occitan falhar.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Northern, Balearic, Central) [fəˈʎa]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [faˈʎaɾ]
• IPA^(key): (Northwestern) [faˈʎa]

• Audio (Barcelona):

  (file)

Verb

fallar (first-person singular present fallo, first-person singular preterite fallí, past participle fallat)

1. (transitive) to miss (to fail to hit)

   Antonym: encertar

2. (intransitive) to fail (to cease to operate correctly)

   Synonym: fallir

   Antonym: funcionar

3. (transitive) to let down (to disappoint)

Conjugation

    Central Catalan conjugation of fallar (first conjugation)

infinitive			fallar
gerund			fallant
past participle				masculine		feminine
		singular		fallat		fallada
		plural		fallats		fallades
person		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		jo	tu	ell/ella vostè	nosaltres nós	vosaltres vós	ells/elles vostès
	present	fallo	falles	falla	fallem	falleu	fallen
	imperfect	fallava	fallaves	fallava	fallàvem	fallàveu	fallaven
	future	fallaré	fallaràs	fallarà	fallarem	fallareu	fallaran
	preterite	fallí	fallares	fallà	fallàrem	fallàreu	fallaren
	conditional	fallaria	fallaries	fallaria	fallaríem	fallaríeu	fallarien
subjunctive		jo	tu	ell/ella vostè	nosaltres nós	vosaltres vós	ells/elles vostès
	present	falli	fallis	falli	fallem	falleu	fallin
	imperfect	fallés	fallessis	fallés	falléssim	falléssiu	fallessin
imperative		—	tu	vostè	nosaltres	vosaltres vós	vostès
	affirmative	—	falla	falli	fallem	falleu	fallin
	negative (no)	—	no fallis	no falli	no fallem	no falleu	no fallin

Further reading

• “fallar”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007
• Alcover, Antoni Maria; Moll, Francesc de Borja (1963), “fallar”, in Diccionari català-valencià-balear (in Catalan)

Latin

Verb

fallar

1. inflection of fallō:
   1. first-person singular future passive indicative
   2. first-person singular present passive subjunctive

Portuguese

Verb

fallar (first-person singular present fallo, first-person singular preterite fallei, past participle fallado)

1. pre-reform spelling (used until 1943 in Brazil and 1911 in Portugal) of falar
   • 1879, Adolfo Coelho, “A Bella-menina”, in Contos Populares Portuguezes, P. Plantier Editor, page 70:

     Chegou lá e viu uma casa grande e estropeou á porta; não lhe fallaram; tornou a estropear; não lhe fallaram.

     [Chegou lá e viu uma casa grande e estropeou à porta; não lhe falaram; tornou a estropear; não lhe falaram]

     He arrived there and he saw a big house and knocked at the door; no one answered; he went back to knocking; no one answered.

Usage notes

This spelling coexisted with falar.

Conjugation

    Conjugation of fallar (See Appendix:Portuguese verbs)

	Singular			Plural
	First-person (eu)	Second-person (tu)	Third-person (ele / ela / você)	First-person (nós)	Second-person (vós)	Third-person (eles / elas / vocês)
Infinitive
Impersonal	fallar
Personal	fallar	fallares	fallar	fallarmos	fallardes	fallarem
Gerund
	fallando
Past participle
Masculine	fallado			fallados
Feminine	fallada			falladas
Indicative
Present	fallo	fallas	falla	fallamos	fallais	fallam
Imperfect	fallava	fallavas	fallava	fallávamos	falláveis	fallavam
Preterite	fallei	fallaste	fallou	fallamos1, fallámos2	fallastes	fallaram
Pluperfect	fallara	fallaras	fallara	falláramos	falláreis	fallaram
Future	fallarei	fallarás	fallará	fallaremos	fallareis	fallarão
Conditional	fallaria	fallarias	fallaria	fallaríamos	fallaríeis	fallariam
Subjunctive
Present	falle	falles	falle	fallemos	falleis	fallem
Imperfect	fallasse	fallasses	fallasse	fallássemos	fallásseis	fallassem
Future	fallar	fallares	fallar	fallarmos	fallardes	fallarem
Imperative
Affirmative		falla	falle	fallemos	fallai	fallem
Negative (não)		não falles	não falle	não fallemos	não falleis	não fallem

¹Brazilian Portuguese.
²European Portuguese.

Spanish

Etymology

From falla, of Catalan origin, ultimately from Latin fallere and hence cognate with English fail.

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /faˈʝaɾ/ [faˈʝaɾ]

• IPA^(key): /faˈʝaɾ/ [faˈʝaɾ] (Equatorial Guinea, most of Latin America and Spain)
• IPA^(key): /faˈʎaɾ/ [faˈʎaɾ] (rustic northern Spain, northern and central Andes Mountains (except central Ecuador), Bolivia, Paraguay, northeastern Argentina, Philippines)
• IPA^(key): /faˈʃaɾ/ [faˈʃaɾ] (Buenos Aires and environs)
• IPA^(key): /faˈʒaɾ/ [faˈʒaɾ] (central Ecuador, Santiago del Estero and environs, elsewhere in Pampas and southern Argentina, Uruguay)
• IPA^(key): /faˈjaɾ/ [faˈjaɾ] (northern Mexico, Yucatán, Central America (except Panama))

• Audio (Colombia):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -aɾ
• Syllabification: fa‧llar

Verb

fallar (first-person singular present fallo, first-person singular preterite fallé, past participle fallado)

1. (transitive) to fail
2. (intransitive) to crash or break down (a computer)

   Synonym: averiarse

3. (intransitive, impersonal) to let down (to disappoint)

   me fallan los dedos

   my fingers let me down

4. (law) to rule, give (a verdict or sentence)

   Synonym: laudar

Conjugation

    Conjugation of fallar (See Appendix:Spanish verbs)

infinitive			fallar
gerund			fallando
past participle				masculine		feminine
		singular		fallado		fallada
		plural		fallados		falladas
		singular			plural
		1st person	2nd person	3rd person	1st person	2nd person	3rd person
indicative		yo	tú vos	él/ella/ello usted	nosotros nosotras	vosotros vosotras	ellos/ellas ustedes
	present	fallo	fallastú fallásvos	falla	fallamos	falláis	fallan
	imperfect	fallaba	fallabas	fallaba	fallábamos	fallabais	fallaban
	preterite	fallé	fallaste	falló	fallamos	fallasteis	fallaron
	future	fallaré	fallarás	fallará	fallaremos	fallaréis	fallarán
	conditional	fallaría	fallarías	fallaría	fallaríamos	fallaríais	fallarían
subjunctive		yo	tú vos	él/ella/ello usted	nosotros nosotras	vosotros vosotras	ellos/ellas ustedes
	present	falle	fallestú fallésvos2	falle	fallemos	falléis	fallen
	imperfect (ra)	fallara	fallaras	fallara	falláramos	fallarais	fallaran
	imperfect (se)	fallase	fallases	fallase	fallásemos	fallaseis	fallasen
	future1	fallare	fallares	fallare	falláremos	fallareis	fallaren
imperative		—	tú vos	usted	nosotros nosotras	vosotros vosotras	ustedes
	affirmative		fallatú fallávos	falle	fallemos	fallad	fallen
	negative		no falles	no falle	no fallemos	no falléis	no fallen

¹Rare; now chiefly used in legal language.
²Argentine and Uruguayan voseo prefers the tuteo-form for the present subjunctive.

    Selected combined forms of fallar

These forms are generated automatically and may not actually be used. Pronoun usage varies by region.

		singular			plural
		1st person	2nd person	3rd person	1st person	2nd person	3rd person
with infinitive fallar	dative	fallarme	fallarte	fallarle, fallarse	fallarnos	fallaros	fallarles, fallarse
	accusative	fallarme	fallarte	fallarlo, fallarla, fallarse	fallarnos	fallaros	fallarlos, fallarlas, fallarse
with gerund fallando	dative	fallándome	fallándote	fallándole, fallándose	fallándonos	fallándoos	fallándoles, fallándose
	accusative	fallándome	fallándote	fallándolo, fallándola, fallándose	fallándonos	fallándoos	fallándolos, fallándolas, fallándose
with informal second-person singular tuteo imperative falla	dative	fállame	fállate	fállale	fállanos	not used	fállales
	accusative	fállame	fállate	fállalo, fállala	fállanos	not used	fállalos, fállalas
with informal second-person singular voseo imperative fallá	dative	fallame	fallate	fallale	fallanos	not used	fallales
	accusative	fallame	fallate	fallalo, fallala	fallanos	not used	fallalos, fallalas
with formal second-person singular imperative falle	dative	fálleme	not used	fállele, fállese	fállenos	not used	fálleles
	accusative	fálleme	not used	fállelo, fállela, fállese	fállenos	not used	fállelos, fállelas
with first-person plural imperative fallemos	dative	not used	fallémoste	fallémosle	fallémonos	fallémoos	fallémosles
	accusative	not used	fallémoste	fallémoslo, fallémosla	fallémonos	fallémoos	fallémoslos, fallémoslas
with informal second-person plural imperative fallad	dative	falladme	not used	falladle	falladnos	fallaos	falladles
	accusative	falladme	not used	falladlo, falladla	falladnos	fallaos	falladlos, falladlas
with formal second-person plural imperative fallen	dative	fállenme	not used	fállenle	fállennos	not used	fállenles, fállense
	accusative	fállenme	not used	fállenlo, fállenla	fállennos	not used	fállenlos, fállenlas, fállense

Derived terms

• fallo

Related terms

• fallecer
• fallido

Further reading

• “fallar”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025
• Seco, Manuel; Andrés, Olimpia; Ramos, Gabino (2023), “fallar”, in Diccionario del español actual (in Spanish), third digital edition, Fundación BBVA