Could you tell me a suitable explanation for 'fell back' in the sentence?

Hi teachers,
I've looked for the meaning of 'fell back' in a few dictionaries, but none of them seem to fit in the following context.
Could you tell me a suitable explanation please?

Then Arthur hit him as hard as he could in the stomach and he fell to the floor heavily. The old lady screamed. The policeman tried to get up, but fell back weakly.

Thanks in advance.

He tried to get up from the floor but he was too weak to do so. He got up a little way but then fell back down to the floor.

emsr2d2 said:

He tried to get up from the floor but he was too weak to do so. He got up a little way but then fell back down to the floor.

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Hi,
Thank you very much for your reply.
Could these be suitable explanations too, or they are completely unsuitable?
a) An explanation to 'fell back weakly' is 'descended to the floor with no physical force'.
b) An explanation to 'fell back weakly' is 'went back down to the floor with no physical force'.

L.

Neither really works. We definitely wouldn't explain it as "descended" - that suggests some form of control and we don't use it to mean "to fall".

"No physical force" doesn't work either. When it says that he fell back weakly, it simply means that he did it in a way which showed that he was feeling very weak. He didn't do it that way on purpose. He simply didn't have the energy to get up (although he didn't realise that) so when he tried to stand up, he failed, and just dropped back to where he was in a weak manner.

He returned to his original position on the floor in a way that showed he had no energy left.

He returned to his original position on the floor in a way that showed he had no energy left.

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Hi,
Thank you very much for your reply.

What about this 'last one'?
After the hit he fell to the floor and he made the attempt to get up but he couldn't, due to his weak physical condition.

After he fell to the floor, he made an attempt...

SoothingDave said:

After he fell to the floor, he made an attempt...

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Hi,
Thank you very much for your reply.

:-? The trouble with 'After he fell to the floor, he made an attempt...' is that (depending on what follows, of course) it doesn't say as much as 'fell back' He might have just realized it was no good trying to get up, and stopped. I don't see what's wrong with fell back' (except that it's a phrasal verb, so causes problems for Spanish speakers!) ;-)

b

BobK said:

:-? The trouble with 'After he fell to the floor, he made an attempt...' is that (depending on what follows, of course) it doesn't say as much as 'fell back' He might have just realized it was no good trying to get up, and stopped. I don't see what's wrong with fell back' (except that it's a phrasal verb, so causes problems for Spanish speakers!) ;-)b

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Hi,
Thank you for your reply. :-D Not in this case. The problem is with the definitions the dictionaries provide for this phrasal verb. They don't fit in the sentence, at least to me.:shock:
Another teacher told me, 'The question is whether 'back' means 'returning to his previous position' or 'in a backwards direction'. Either is a possible interpretation'.
Here are a couple of links.
fall back - definition in British English Dictionary & Thesaurus - Cambridge Dictionary Online
Fall back - Definition and More from the Free Merriam-Webster Dictionary

The same problem with the one I have at home, 'Collins Cobuild-Dictionary of Phrasal Verbs'. It doesn't help either.
L.

learning54 said:

The problem is with the definitions the dictionaries provide for this phrasal verb. They don't fit in the sentence, at least to me.

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Life might be simpler if you stopped thinking of 'fall back' as a phrasal verb. Think of 'back' as an adverb, used in a similar way to 'forward' or 'sideways'.

5jj said:

Life might be simpler if you stopped thinking of 'fall back' as a phrasal verb. Think of 'back' as an adverb, used in a similar way to 'forward' or 'sideways'.

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Hi 5jj,
Thank YOU so much for your reply.
Wow!! Is that so!:shock: As simple as that! Then it makes a lot of sense.:-D :up:
'Fell' in thi case means "fell down", doesn't it?


L.

learning54 said:

'Fell' in thi case means "fell down", doesn't it?.

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No, it doesn't. He was already down! It just means 'fell', though without necessarily any real implication of speed.

5jj said:

Life might be simpler if you stopped thinking of 'fall back' as a phrasal verb. Think of 'back' as an adverb, used in a similar way to 'forward' or 'sideways'.

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:up: In fact many teachers would say that it's just a prepositional verb here. The phrasal 'fall back' appears in sentences such as 'He learnt to touch-type so that if his career in rock music was unsuccessful he'd have a skill to fall back on'.'

b