fell ~ felled:
(For the right pronunciation of ‘fell’, please click here.)
he fell in a ditch
“Fell” is the past tense form of the verb word ‘fall’:
fall – fell – fallen – falling
which means ‘to come down or descend from a higher position to a lower one & trip over something; to go to sleep’,
he fell asleep at work
e.g.
A young man slipped and fell into the river, and was carried away by the water currents.
The old woman fell asleep while waiting for her bus.
___________________
he felled a tree
“Felled”, on the other hand, is both the past and past participle form of the verb word ‘fell’ which means ‘to cut down something, usually trees, with blows or with cutting tools on purpose’,
[For the right pronunciation, please click here.]
fell – felled – felled – felling
he felled his opponent
e.g.
The boxer felled his opponent with one blow.
The wood-cutters (lumberjacks) are felling trees.
Compare:
1.
Many trees fell over during the severe cyclone.
[‘fell’ – the past tense form of the verb word “fall” = it was due to natural calamity; no person cut them down on purpose]
2.
Many trees were felled for wood.
[‘felled’ – the past participle form of the verb word “fell” = the trees were cut down by people on purpose, for wood]
3.
The fallen tree trunk was used as a bridge to cross the stream.
[‘fallen’ – the past participle form of the verb word “fall” = the trunk of a dead tree was already there, and it was used as a bridge]
4.
The felled tree trunk was used as a bridge to cross the stream.
[‘felled’ – the past participle form of the verb word “fell” = a tree was cut down for the purpose of using its trunk as a bridge to cross the stream]
