last fall

USAGE SUMMARY

"last fall" is a perfectly correct and usable phrase in written English.
You can use it to indicate a season that occurred in the past year. For example: I moved to a new city last fall.

✓ Grammatically correct

Science

News & Media

Formal & Business

Human-verified similar examples from authoritative sources

Similar Expressions

60 human-written examples

The last one was in 1989.

The Economist

His record - two cups within six months of his appointment, a domestic treble in his first full season, a second title in 2005 and reaching the last 16 of the Champions League - set the context for a rueful but masterfully understated parting comment: "I'm sure those people who look at the facts will say that during a period of downsizing, I was reasonably successful".

The Guardian - Sport

The order book was down slightly at £3.6bn from the last update in June but well ahead of the £3.3bn reported this time last year.

The Guardian - Business

Last year, during David Cameron's trip to Beijing, the same paper announced that Britain was "just an old European country apt [that is, suitable] for travel and study".

The Guardian - Opinion

Referred to in court as D, she entered a not guilty plea to a charge of intimidation last week while wearing a niqab after the judge backed down from a previous decision that she would have to show her face to be properly identified.

The Guardian

As a result, the country lost a further 21 positions in the policy evaluation compared to last year, thus replacing Canada as the worst-performing industrial country".

The Guardian

"Scoring is not up, but injuries are up," Tallon said of the current rule last week.

The New York Times

MPs and peers laughed as Merkel, who recalled her first visit to London in the spring of 1990 shortly after the fall of the Berlin Wall, said those expecting a "fundamental reform of the European architecture" in Britain's direction would be disappointed.

The Guardian

Since last July the state has opted to use just one massive dose of the sedative pentobarbital as its lethal injection, instead of a cocktail of three different drugs.

The Guardian

Last summer the Electoral Commission said 7.5 million eligible voters were not registered, with poor, black and young people least likely to be on the electoral roll.

The Guardian

The shares have underperformed the market by 6% in the last three months and now trade at a discount to the oil service peers.

The Guardian - Business

Expert writing Tips

Best practice

Use "last fall" when you want to specify an event that occurred during the autumn months of the previous year. It's clear and concise.

Common error

Avoid using "last fall" when you mean the upcoming fall season. Use "this fall" or "the upcoming fall" to refer to the fall season of the current year.

Linguistic Context

The phrase "last fall" functions as an adverbial phrase of time, specifying when an action or event occurred. Based on Ludwig AI, the phrase is a correct way to refer to a time in the past.

Expression frequency: Missing

Frequent in

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Less common in

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Ludwig's WRAP-UP

In summary, "last fall" is a grammatically sound and commonly understood way to refer to the autumn season of the previous year. While Ludwig AI confirms its correctness, it is important to differentiate it from "this fall", which denotes the current year's autumn. To diversify your writing, consider using alternatives such as "autumn of last year". Avoiding the use of "in" before "last fall" enhances clarity. Due to the limited number of examples in Ludwig's database, context categorization and authoritativeness remain challenging to ascertain.

More alternative expressions

Phrases that express similar concepts, ordered by semantic similarity:

autumn of last year

Replaces "fall" with "autumn" and adds "of last year" for clarity.

last autumn

Uses "autumn" instead of "fall."

fall season of last year

Adds the word "season" for emphasis.

the past fall

Uses "past" instead of "last."

previous autumn

Combines "previous" with "autumn."

fall of the previous year

Uses "previous year" instead of "last year."

the fall just past

Uses "just past" to indicate recent occurrence.

autumn a year ago

Rephrases using "a year ago."

the most recent fall

Highlights the recency of the season.

the fall before this one

Emphasizes the sequence of seasons.

FAQs

How do I use "last fall" in a sentence?

Use "last fall" to refer to the autumn season of the previous year. For example, "I visited New England "last fall" to see the foliage."

What's the difference between "last fall" and "this fall"?

"Last fall" refers to the autumn of the previous year, while "this fall" refers to the autumn of the current year. Be precise to avoid confusion.

What can I say instead of "last fall"?

You can use alternatives like "autumn of last year" or "fall of the previous year" to convey the same meaning.

Is it correct to say "in last fall"?

While not grammatically incorrect, it is more common and natural to say ""last fall"" without the preposition "in". For example, "I went hiking "last fall"" is preferable to "I went hiking in last fall".