follow
fol·low/ˈfɒləʊ/verb, noun
follow is spelled F-O-L-L-O-W, 2 syllables: fol·low. The wrong spelling people search most is folow: about 60 Bing searches a month in the United States (September 2025 to August 2026), about 1 in 76 of all searches for the word. Follow is a verb meaning “To go after; to pursue; to move behind in the same path or direction, especially with the intent of catching”.
How many letters and syllables are in follow?
| Letters | 6: F-O-L-L-O-W |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2: fol·low |
| In writing | 138 times per million words; the 756th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | 1; the most searched, folow, about 60 Bing searches a month (all of them) |
| Rhymes with |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How do you spell follow?
Follow is spelled F-O-L-L-O-W. One wrong spelling is searched or written often enough to measure; together they are about 1 in 76 of the searches for follow in either form.
Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026). Wrong spellings are taken from Wiktionary entries tagged "misspelling" and its obsolete or nonstandard forms, Wikipedia's Lists of common misspellings and the codespell dictionary, then measured. The proofreader's marks show the change that corrects each one.
How common is follow?
Follow appears 138 times per million words in written English, the 756th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce follow?
- UK /ˈfɒləʊ/
- /ˈfɒlə/
- /ˈfɔlo/
Follow has 2 syllables, split fol·low in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-follow.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with follow?
2 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as follow from its last stressed vowel (/ɒləʊ/, British pronunciation):
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of follow
- follows present, singular, he/she/it, plural
- following participle, present
- followed participle, past, singular, he/she/it, plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does follow mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
verb
- 1
To go after; to pursue; to move behind in the same path or direction, especially with the intent of catching.
Follow that car!
- 2
To go or come after in a sequence.
B follows A in the alphabet.
- 3
To carry out (orders, instructions, etc.).
Follow these instructions to the letter.
- 4
To live one's life according to (religion, teachings, etc).
- 5
To understand, to pay attention to.
Do you follow me?
- 6
To watch, to keep track of (reports of) some event or person.
I followed the incumbent throughout the election.
- 7
To be a supporter of (a sports team).
- 8
To subscribe to see content from an account on a social media platform.
If you want to see more of our articles, follow us on Twitter.
noun
- 1
In billiards and similar games, a stroke causing a ball to follow another ball after hitting it.
a follow shot
- 2
The act of following another user's online activity.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Follow in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | suivre , se plier à |
| German | folgen , verschreiben, befolgen |
| Portuguese | seguir , captar , acompanhar |
| Spanish | seguir |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does follow come from?
From Middle English folwen, folȝen, folgen, from Old English folgian (“to follow, pursue”), from Proto-West Germanic *folgēn, from Proto-Germanic *fulgāną (“to follow”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).