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The questions are following vs. The questions are as follows


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The questions are following vs. The questions are as follows #1 (permalink) Sun May 28, 2006 10:36 am   The questions are following vs. The questions are as follows
 

Is the following sentence correct:
The questions are following:
?

What is the difference, if any, between this sentence and
The questions are as follows: ?

Diodora
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Following #2 (permalink) Sun May 28, 2006 10:44 am   Following
 

Hi

The sentence "The questions are as follows:" is a standard sentence.

Your first sentence is not correct. But you could add the word "the" and then it would be OK and the meaning would be the same as your second sentence: "The questions are the following:"

I would prefer "The questions are as follows:"

Amy
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Learn to use the present simple with the help of this short storyHere is all you want to know about English! Click to subscribe to free email English courseAre you a native speaker of English? Then you should read this!English grammar exercises — improve your English knowledge and vocabulary skills
Following #3 (permalink) Sun May 28, 2006 11:33 am   Following
 

I have just spoken to someone who insists that The questions are following is OK. He claims that the Present Continuous Tense is used in the above sentence instead of the more ususal Present Simple. Is he right?
Please comment on this.
Agent
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Following #4 (permalink) Sun May 28, 2006 11:35 am   Following
 

Just to add something, according to him The question are following or The questions follow would mean that they appear later in the paper.
Agent
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Following #5 (permalink) Sun May 28, 2006 12:27 pm   Following
 

Hi New_User

In your question, the sentences each had a colon (:) at the end and that would indicate that the questions do NOT appear somewhere later in the text, but rather immediately after the colon.

I might say "The questions follow." if the questions are found later in or at the end of the text. I definitely would not write "The questions are following."

Alan? Conchita? Jamie? Mr. McCawber? What do you think?

Amy
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Following #6 (permalink) Sun May 28, 2006 12:55 pm   Following
 

I am eager to find out why the Present Continuous Tense is incorrect here....
Agent
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Following #7 (permalink) Sun May 28, 2006 13:10 pm   Following
 

Cut in half again - gives you 8 bits per apple !When the butter and sugar is caramalised, put in the apples until the pan is full. Careful not to burn your fingers. Lower the heat and cook for about 10 minutes. Remove fromheat and put into an ovenproof pie dish. Then put pastry over the top (pastry instructions are following !).

Source:
soul.ucmp.umu.se/~ucmp/other/UCMPcookery.pdf

What about the use of the Present Continuous Tense in the above example?
New_user.
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Following #8 (permalink) Sun May 28, 2006 13:24 pm   Following
 

Hi New_user

To interpret the meaning behind:

Quote:
The questions are following


would be very difficult for me. In your quotation:

(pastry instructions are following !).

this is a different situation from the one that you gave us to think first. It's always best to give the full context so that it can be explained more clearly.In that context I would say: instructions are following shortly/instructions will follow/instructions are to follow/ instructions are on the way if they haven't arrived yet. Instructions are as follows would be if the instructions are already there.

Alan
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Following #9 (permalink) Sun May 28, 2006 14:07 pm   Following
 

Hi!

New_user wrote:
The questions are following:


Accepting the danger to be wrong here again I would assume following as a Present Participle therefore as the state of being and not as a verb in the Present Continious Tense.

So the meaning could be: The questions are written down (Past Participle) in the next lines behind the colon!

Michael
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Following #10 (permalink) Sun May 28, 2006 14:19 pm   Following
 

Hi New_user

The cookbook source you cited (above) is from a Swedish web site. I've now had a look at the pdf file. While the English in this cookbook isn't bad, there are various mistakes in it. It was not written by a native speaker. You need to be careful where you take your online English examples from. Unfortunately, there are quite a few web sites with bad examples of "English".

Additionally, "cookbook" English is often an "abbreviated" or "short-form" style of English. If you want to write a relatively formal letter or a report (which is what I understood from your original question), it's definitely not a good idea to take examples of how to write things from a cookbook. Wink

Can you tell us exactly what sort of text you want to put your sentence in?

Amy
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Joined: 16 Apr 2006
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Following #11 (permalink) Sun May 28, 2006 16:11 pm   Following
 

Actually, the sentence is rather imaginary.

Possible contexts the I can think of are as follows:-)
1) The questions are following.
The above gives rise to questions

2) The questions are following
The questions will appear later in the paper.

Additionaly, I have found yet another example:
http://mail.gnome.org/archives/gnome-announce-list/2004-July/msg00025.html

I would say that it has not been written by a native speaker either. Still I hope you will visit the website.

I do not usually read cookery books:-) I would not use the phrase. I, too, feel that there is something wrong with it. I just need to find a good justification to support my claim.
New_user.
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Following #12 (permalink) Sun May 28, 2006 18:54 pm   Following
 

Hi New_User

Sorry, but I'm not going to go to any more web sites. I've given you the best opinion I could. Alan has also given some good input. Visiting further web sites serves no useful purpose that I can see, particularly to answer questions about an imaginary sentence with no definite context.

Hi Michael

Fan of Arabian horses wrote:
Accepting the danger to be wrong here again I would assume following as a Present Participle therefore as the state of being and not as a verb in the Present Continious Tense.

So the meaning could be: The questions are written down (Past Participle) in the next lines behind the colon!


You seem to be on the right track. Wink In German you would say "Folgendes" (with a capital "F"). In English that would be "the following" (noun formed by the present participle).

Amy
Yankee
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Joined: 16 Apr 2006
Posts: 8265
Location: USA

Following #13 (permalink) Sun May 28, 2006 19:00 pm   Following
 

Thank you all for your help

Smile
New_user.
Guest





Following #14 (permalink) Sun May 28, 2006 20:03 pm   Following
 

Hi Amy!

Why should we act like a cat on the hot bricks? Wink But I?ve followed your track only.
I?ve been beating my brains out Wink before I found that solution which seemed to be formal but possible. What now wonders me whether the following sentence could be correct:

I am sitting waiting? Shocked

What I intended was to find a short form for:

I?m sitting at the bus station, waiting for the bus!

Curious, isn?t it? Smile

Michael
Fan Of Arabian Horses
I'm a Communicator ;-)


Joined: 20 Apr 2006
Posts: 1007
Location: next to Dortmund , Europe

Following #15 (permalink) Sun May 28, 2006 21:30 pm   Following
 

Hi Michael (one of the flock of Bloodbrothers Wink)

Your feelings are getting better and better.

A very typical sentence would be:
"I'm sitting here waiting."

(Without the word here, I guess I'd insert a comma.)

Amy
Yankee
I'm a Communicator ;-)


Joined: 16 Apr 2006
Posts: 8265
Location: USA

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