Writing Tips

The Word "Following"

The word following can act either as a noun or as an adjective. When used alone, it presumably is acting as a noun. In many cases where following appears alone, however, the writer clearly means to use the word adjectivally. For example:

Your vacation package includes the following:

• transportation to the island,
• six nights' accommodation,
• six breakfasts,
• five dinners, and
• one complimentary cocktail.

The following are the items that were found in her purse:

• Gilded compact
• Two dollars in loose change
• Theatre ticket stub

At NIVA, writers who make this mistake are typically told "Charlie Manson had a following, but your list contains the following items".

Even more to the point, the adjective following is often unnecessary to the meaning of the sentence. Why not simply say:

Your vacation package includes

• transportation to the island,
• six nights' accommodation,
• six breakfasts,
• five dinners, and
• one complimentary cocktail.

These items were found in her purse:

• Gilded compact
• Two dollars in loose change
• Theatre ticket stub

If the adjectival use is appropriate and necessary, then the phrase the following <things> should be used only when it immediately precedes the <things> being talked about. For example:

The dosage-response curves are shown on the following pages: for adolescent males, page 15; for adolescent females, page 16; for middle-aged males, page 17; and for middle-aged females, page 18.

If the <things> being talked about are distant from the following phrase, then the phrase should be changed to read <things> that follow. For example:

In the statistical summary that follows, asterisks mark notable deviations from ....