FOLLOW Basic Verbs Learn English Grammar
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hi everybody welcome back to know your
verbs my name is Alicia and in this
episode we’re going to talk about the
verb follow let’s go so the basic
definition of this verb is to move
behind someone or something and to go to
the same place that that person or thing
is going to examples I’ll follow you to
the park follow me I know where we’re
going
the conjugations of this verb now
present follow follows past followed
past participle followed progressive
following
now let’s talk about some additional
meanings of this verb okay
the first additional meaning is to
understand to understand examples I
don’t follow you
do you follow so we can really just
replace the word follow with understand
here in the first example sentence I
don’t follow you we can say I don’t
understand you it means I don’t
understand what you’re saying or I don’t
understand what you’re thinking I don’t
follow you
it sounds more casual like I don’t
follow your train of thought
train of thought means like the path you
took to arrive at your destination
thinking wise follow you just sounds
more casual it’s like I can’t understand
I can’t follow the path of your logic in
other words so I don’t follow you in the
second sentence it’s a question do you
follow meaning do you understand do you
understand what I’m saying so follow can
mean understand quite simply okay let’s
go to the second meaning for this verb
so the second one is to happen after
something else to come after something
else
examples of this a delicious dessert
followed the roast chicken a luxurious
hot spring experience follows a massage
on this one date or in these example
sentences we see follow is used to
describe something that happens after
something else
in the first example sentence I
mentioned a dessert that followed a
roast chicken
so yes dessert is being presented first
in the sentence so I said a delicious
dessert followed a roast chicken so that
means a delicious dessert came after a
roast chicken so followed yes followed
shows the thing that came after the
other thing so we see the same thing in
the second example sentence a luxurious
hot spring experience follows a relaxing
massage so yes luxurious hot spring
experience is first in the sentence
however we’re using the verb follows so
that means it comes after a massage in
this case so yes it’s presented first in
the sentence but this use of follow
means come after so that means we’re
presenting a sequence in this way let’s
go to the third meaning
which is to obey to obey so to obey
something okay examples of this to obey
did you follow the instructions on the
instant ramen she decided to follow her
managers advice so in both of these
sentences we’re meaning obey with the
verb follow so we could say did you obey
the instructions on the instant ramen
but obey sounds quite strong we use obey
for like people who are in positions of
power above us so in this case with
ramen its packaging so we usually say
follow the instructions on the packaging
so meaning obey the instructions on the
packaging but obey is quite a strong
word we use follow instead in the second
sentence she followed her managers
advice is like she obeyed her managers
advice so yes a manager is in a position
of power above you sure obey is
typically used when we are given like
strict orders for something like like
military or like something from the
president something from very high up
and like very strong orders like like
obey your commanding officer or
something like that in this case it’s
advice meaning that it’s probably not so
serious it’s like a suggestion and it’s
a manager so she has probably like a
workplace relationship so we would
probably use follow someone’s advice in
this case so follow means obey but it’s
not quite as strong not nearly as strong
much softer so the fourth meaning is to
be very interested in something and to
watch that thing closely examples of
this I don’t really follow sports she’s
been following the news very closely so
the first example sentence is a negative
I don’t really follow sports meaning I
don’t really have much interest in and
therefore I don’t really watch much
sports in the second example sentence
she’s been following the news very
closely it means she’s been very
interested in and watching a lot of news
lately
so this use of follow is quite
convenient it it includes meanings of
being interested in something and
watching something carefully or close
so to follow a topic or to follow an
activity so this means being interested
in that activity and doing or seeing or
reading about a lot of it
variations let’s look at some variations
of this firm the first variation is to
follow suit to follow suit this means to
do the same thing as the person
previously mentioned in the sentence or
in the situation examples my manager
just quit the company I think I’m gonna
follow suit
her boyfriend decided to leave the party
so she followed suit so in both of these
examples we see one person makes a
decision or takes an action and the
other person does the same thing we show
that with the expression follow suit so
in the first example I manager quit the
company
I think I’m gonna follow suit so I think
I’m going to do the same thing as the
person I just mentioned so my manager
quit the company I think I’m going to do
that as well I think I’m going to follow
suit in the second example sentence her
boyfriend decided to leave the party so
she followed suit so he left the party
she decided to do the same thing he did
she followed suit past tense
she did the same thing he did so follow
suit means to do the same thing as the
person previously mentioned the next
variation is to follow through to follow
through we often use to follow through
on or to follow through with something
this means to keep a promise or to do
something you said you were going to do
examples I hate it when people don’t
follow through with their plans that’s
true
that’s called flaking okay example
sentence number two I’m going to follow
through on my resolution to find a new
job okay so here we see a couple
examples so the first one is sort of a
negative statement I hate it when people
don’t follow through with their plans
meaning I hate it when people don’t do
the things they say they’re going to do
so I hate it when people make a plan and
break the plan or make a suggestion and
don’t do that thing
they don’t follow through with their
plans in the second example the speaker
previously made a resolution a
resolution is a kind of goal so the
speaker previously made a resolution the
speaker has decided to follow through
meaning to to try to achieve that
resolution to try to do that action so
that means that the speaker is going to
find a new job so the speaker is going
to do the thing he or she promised to do
the last variation for follow today is
to follow in someone’s footsteps to
follow in someone’s footsteps this is
kind of an easy one to imagine so to
follow in the same footsteps as someone
who walked before you however that
person who walked before you is
typically a parent or maybe a
grandparent or someone senior to you
that you admire example sentences he’s
following in his father’s footsteps and
becoming a lawyer she decided not to
follow in her mother’s footsteps after
all so to follow in someone’s footsteps
typically refers to a career choice so
in the first example sentence we saw
lawyer so he decided to follow in his
father’s footsteps meaning he decided to
do the same thing his father did as a
career become a lawyer so meaning chose
the same thing as his parent in the
second we see a different situation she
decided not to follow in her mother’s
footsteps meaning she chose a different
career path from her mother or she chose
a different life path from her mother so
to follow in someone’s footsteps means
to do the same thing usually the same
career as their parent or their
grandparents so those are a few new ways
to use the verb follow I hope if you
have any questions if you want to try to
make a sentence or if you know some
other ways to use follow please feel
free to try it out in the comments great
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