1.follow的基本意思是“跟随”,可用于时间、顺序,也可用于逻辑上或理解上的相随,引申可表示“追求”。
2.follow可用作及物动词,也可用作不及物动词。用作及物动词时,接名词、代词作宾语。
3.follow作“从事,经营”解时,不直接以行业名称作宾语,而应以profession或trade等作宾语。
4.follow可用于存在句型。其位置在there之后,主语之前,主谓倒装。
5.follow可用于It follows that-clause结构,意思是“说明”“证明”。
6.as follows是个惯用语,不管主语是单数还是复数,也不管使用何种时态,都用as follows。

as follows
列举如下 as now to be told
The full text reads as follows.全文如下。
My arguments are as follows.我的意见如下。
The main events were as follows: first, the president's speech, secondly, the secretary's report and thirdly, the chairman's summing-up.主要活动如下:第一项,总裁讲话; 第二项,秘书汇报;第三项,主席作总结。
Just before the battle the general addressed his army as follows.就在战斗打响前,将军对部队讲了下面的话。

follow after (v.+prep.)
▲follow after sb/sth
1.跟在…后面,追随 go or come after
She used to follow after him wherever he went.以前,他走到哪里,她总是跟到哪里。
The dog always follows after its master.这条狗总是跟着他的主人。
2.追求,力求得到 pursue
Follow after truth if you would be happy.你若想幸福,就得追求真理。
Follow after peace with all men.全人类共同追求和平。

follow in one's footsteps (v.+prep.+n.)
踩着别人的脚印走; 效法他人 follow a similar occupation
She works in theatre, following in her father's footsteps.她秉承父业,也从事戏剧工作。
Her daughter followed in her footsteps and became a doctor.她女儿走她的路,也当医生。
He was determined to follow in their footsteps and became a true revolutionary.他决心走他们的路,成为真正的革命者。
We mustn't blindly follow in the footsteps of foreign practice.我们没必要盲目地按外国的办法行事。

follow into (v.+prep.)
跟着…进入… walk behind sb into a place
▲follow sb into sth
She followed him into the room.她随他进入房间。
The boy followed the teacher into the office.那男孩跟着老师走进办公室。
Michael Manley followed his father into politics.迈克尔·曼利跟他父亲从政。

follow on1 (v.+adv.)
继续 continue
▲follow on
I'll be back soon. Meanwhile follow on.我马上就回来,你继续干下去好了。
You go first, and we'll follow on after a short rest.你先去,我们稍作休息就来。
He follows on despite every difficulty.尽管遇到各种困难,但他仍然继续前进。

follow on2 (v.+prep.)
随之发生 happen as a consequence
▲follow on sth
Disease often follows on starvation because the body is weakened.疾病的产生往往是由于饥饿的缘故,因为身体很虚弱。
His disease followed on his mother's death.他母亲去世后不久,他就病了。
Following quickly on this tragedy, the youngest child died of malnutrition.发生这一惨剧后不久,最小的孩子又因营养不良死掉了。
After the taking of Tianjin, he followed on his victory.攻克天津后,他乘胜前进。

follow out (v.+adv.)
贯彻,依照…完成 carry out; finish what you are told to do
▲follow sth ⇔ out
Even though he followed out all the instructions carefully, he couldn't get the machine to work.他虽然认真地执行所有的指令,但依旧未能使机器运转起来。
You follow out his instructions carefully.你认真按他的指示去做。
The boy followed out his father's advice.那个男孩完全按照他爸爸的忠告做事。
The boy followed out the instruction and made a fine model plane.这孩子依照说明做了一个精致的模型飞机。
The police have followed out several lines of inquiry, but are no nearer to finding the culprit.警察继续进行了多方面的调查,但依然没有找到罪犯。
The student followed out all the index references in the encyclopedia until he found what he wanted to know.那位学生找遍百科全书的所有索引,最后终于找到他所想知道的条目。
Follow out all the cross references.查阅所有的互相参照的条目。

follow through (v.+adv.)
保持,坚持 maintain or continue to the end
▲follow through
He is good at initiating projects but rarely follows through with anything.他善于创建项目,但难得坚持完成。
Bob drew plans for a table for his mother, but he did not follow through by making it.鲍勃计划给母亲做张桌子,但没作出来。
▲follow sth ⇔ through
Starting projects is one thing, following them through is another.着手进行某项目是一回事,而将之进行到底是另一回事。
David is determined to follow his plan through.大卫决心把自己的计划贯彻到底。
Follow through the business, everything will be all right.把这事进行到底,一切都会好的。

follow to (v.+prep.)
跟随…到达某地 go along to reach a place; walk behind sb to reach a place
▲follow sb/sth to sth
We can follow this path to the village.我们沿着小路进入村里。
He followed me to the school.他跟我去了学校。

follow up (v.+adv.)
跟着; 追逐; 继续 pursue further; act further on
▲follow up
You start the work, and I'll follow up.你先干起来,我随后。
And the question is worth following up, for the sake of the light it throws on modern knowledge.这一类问题值得进一步探讨,因为它有助于说明现代知识的真实情况。
The editor thinks this story is worth following up.编辑认为这件事值得跟踪报道。
▲follow up with sth
The chairman followed up with another question.主席接着又提了一个问题。
▲follow sb/sth ⇔ up
They followed the criminal up like a shadow and arrested him at his lodging.他们形影不离地跟踪那个罪犯,并在他的住所逮捕了他。
Follow up a lead, clue and rumour.顺着头绪、线索和谣传进行调查。
He followed up his success and started looking for new markets.他获得成功之后再接再厉,又开始寻找新市场了。
After Mary sent a letter application for a job, she followed it up by going to talk to the personnel manager.玛丽把工作申请表寄出去后,又找经理谈话,以使自己更有可能获得那份工作。
The Indians followed up the wounded buffalo until it fell dead.印第安人紧紧地追着那头受伤的水牛,直到它倒地死去。
You should follow up your letter with a phone call.你应该写完信以后再打电话。
We followed up the victory and dispersed the enemy.我们乘胜追击,把敌人打得七零八落。

用作不及物动词
▲S+～(+A)
You go first, and I'll follow.你先去,我随后就来。
Heated discussion followed.接着是一场热烈的讨论。
Happily a good rain followed.幸好随后下了一场及时雨。
In the years that followed,Marx kept on studying English and using it.在那随后的几年里,马克思坚持学习英语和使用英语。
I'm sending the letter today, the packet will follow.我今天发信,包裹随后就寄。
Inevitably, a quarrel followed between the two sides.双方随后不可避免地争吵起来。
Smiles, applause and moisture at the corners of the eyes followed when Nixon turned to Ford and uttered his name.当尼克松向福特宣布他为副总统时,随之而来的是笑脸、掌声和挂在眼角上的晶莹的泪花。
The argument is too difficult for them to follow.这一观点对他们来说太难懂了。
The next time she came,Judy followed down the mountain behind her.第二次她来时,朱迪跟着她也下了山。
There followed an uncomfortable silence.接着是一阵令人难以接受的沉默。
用作及物动词
▲S+～+n./pron.
Please follow me.请跟我来。
A dog followed me home.一只狗跟着我到家里。
I don't quite follow you.我有些跟不上你。
One misfortune followed another.祸不单行。
But day followed day, and she met no nice man.日子一天天过去,她却没遇到中意的人。
Follow this road and turn right at the first crossroad.沿这条路直走,在第一个路口右转。
I don't quite follow you.我不太懂你的意思。
He follows the trade of baker.他是个面包师。
Harry expects to follow the profession of lawyer.哈里希望从事律师工作。
The streets of Baghdad were almost deserted today as Iraqis turned into their radio to follow the court proceedings.今天,巴格达街上几乎一个人也没有,因为伊拉克人都在家中收听法院审判的情况。
Dulles said,“I have followed the progress of this regional collective security organization with deep interest.” 杜勒斯说:“我一直极为关心地注视着这个区域性集体安全组织的进展情况”。
We shall follow closely the development of the situation.我们将密切注意形势的发展。
◇ 用于be ～ed结构
We are being followed.我们被人跟踪了。
Flashes of lightning were followed by roars of thunder.雷声紧跟闪电而来。
In this district wheat-growing is widely followed.这个地区广泛种植小麦。
▲It ～s+that-clause
You have made great progress, but it doesn't follow that you'll never fall behind again.你已经取得了很大进步,但这并不因此说明你不会再落在后面。
If this view is correct, it follows that the policies of the Chinese Communist Party will not run counter to the interests of the United States in China in the foreseeable.如果那种观点正确的话,那说明共产党的这些政策在可预见的一段时期内不会与美国的在华利益相抵触。
Because he is good, it does not follow that he is wise.并不能因为他好,就断定他是聪明的。
其他
▲v-ed as Adverb.
Then it is time for lunch, followed by a brief rest.然后就该吃中饭了,中饭后稍稍休息一会儿。

follow sb, follow at sb
follow at sb 的意思是“跟随某人”,而follow sb 的意思是“紧跟某人”。例如:
She always follows at her husband.
她总是跟随着她的丈夫。
She followed her husband.
她紧跟在她的丈夫之后。
follow advice, follow out sb's advice
这两个短语的意思并不完全相同,前者是“听从某人的忠告”的意思,后者有“完全遵照(某人的忠告)”的意味。
following, followed
followed和following在句中作状语时,其逻辑主语应该是句子的主语。如果主语是follow的执行者,应该用following; 如果主语是follow的承受者,就应该用followed。试比较:
Tom came in, followed by his father.
汤姆进来了,后头跟着他的爸爸。
Tome came in, following his father.
汤姆跟着他的爸爸进来了。
follow, chase, pursue, tag, tail, trail
这组词都有“跟随,追踪”的意思。它们的区别是:
1.follow指跟随起引导作用的人或物或遵循他人的计划; 而pursue指为达到某个目的而坚持不懈地紧跟、追赶或追求某人、某物或某种事业。跟随他人的计划时用follow,追随自己的计划时用pursue。例如:
She has pursued the goal of perfection in her art.在艺术中,她追求完美。
She pursued the study of French for four years.她坚持学了四年法语。
The country has always pursued a policy of peace.该国一直奉行和平政策。
2.chase指迅速追赶在逃的目标以便将其抓获或赶走,而follow则指继之而来或去。tag指不断地纠缠或恼人的尾随某人; tail指紧密尾随并监视; trail指跟踪追击。例如:
The dog chased a mouse, but could not catch it.这狗追赶老鼠,但没有捉住。
The policeman chased the thief.警察追赶小偷。
What are you tagging along for?You aren't invited.你怎么跟着我?又没邀请你。
The detective tailed the thief through the crowd.侦探在人群中跟踪小偷。
The hunter trailed the wounded buffalo through the bush.猎人穿过灌木林追猎受伤的水牛。
3.chase较follow, pursue更具感情色彩,除常表示不友好之外,其行动也可能是出于嬉戏或高兴。还可表示一种热切的,为满足情欲而进行的搜寻。例如:
The boy chased his playmate around the block.那个男孩绕着街区追逐他的玩伴。
He is the man who chased after woman all his life.他就是那个一生都在追求女人的男子。
follow, ensue, succeed, supervene
这四个词都有“接着发生”的意思。它们的区别是:ensue指具有因果关系的事物连续发生; follow指事物按照时间顺序、逻辑关系连续发生; succeed强调相似的人或事物、事件按一定的顺序不间断的接踵而至,尤指时间或空间上的连续; supervene指意外的发生。例如:
After the heavy rains, floods ensued.暴雨之后发生了水灾。
A silence succeeded his words.他说完话后是一阵的沉默。
The meeting went on until lack of time supervened.会议因时间不足而结束。

1.我要跟随他到车站。
［误］  I shall follow behind him to the station.
［正］  I shall follow him to the station.
［析］  follow所表达的“跟随”这一概念本身含有“在后”的意思,所以不用再加behind。
2.我照他的样子操练。
［误］  I followed him to do the drills.
［正］  I did the drills after him.
［析］  follow后不可接以动词不定式充当补足语的复合宾语。

［同义词］   heel, pursue, trail, heed, obey, observe, dog, tail, track
［反义词］   abandon, avoid, disobey, escape, give up, guide, lead, precede
［词源］  ＜中古英语folwen＜古英语folgian(跟,接着)