In response to a question about the differences between these verbs, user “Tony” on italki gave an answer that I liked:
– 떨어지다: fall, drop from a height. 걸어 둔 액자가 떨어졌다 (A picture frame on the wall fell down).
– 무너지다: crumble, fall apart. 큰 건물이 무너져 버렸다 (A big building crumbled down).
– 쓰러지다: fall over; fall onto one’s/its side. 심한 현기증에 쓰러졌다 (Fell down from an acute dizziness).
– 넘어지다: fall by slipping or tripping. 너무 서두르다가 넘어졌다 (Fell while trying to go too fast).
I was comfortable with 떨어지다 but I pressed him further on the differences between 무너지다 and 쓰러지다, and he said this:
Continue reading “Falling verbs in Korean: 떨어지다, 무너지다, 쓰러지다, 넘어지다”