Etterføyes

Etterføyes is a verb form found in historical or literary Norwegian, now largely obsolete in everyday language. It represents the present tense form of the verb å etterføye, meaning to follow after, to succeed, or to imitate, and to comply with someone’s lead. In modern Norwegian the primary verb used for these meanings is å etterfølge. Consequently, etterføyes appears mainly in old texts, poetry, or contexts aiming to evoke archaic diction.

In usage, etterføyes can denote chronological succession (one thing being followed by another) or conformity to a model or command. Its presence signals an older orthographic and syntactic pattern rather than contemporary speech. Modern equivalents would be afterfølges in present passive constructions or etterføyer/etterfølger in active forms, while the past tense is typically etterfulgte or etterfulgt.

Etymology and relation to other forms: the term arises from the compound prefix etter- (“after”) and føye/føge (to follow), and is closely related to the modern Norwegian etterfølge. Cognates exist in neighboring Scandinavian languages, such as Danish efterfølge and Swedish efterfölja, reflecting shared Germanic roots for the concept of following or succeeding.

See also: Etterfølge, Etterfølger, Følge, Å etterføye (archaic). Notes: etterføyes is encountered mainly in historical texts and is not standard in contemporary Bokmål or Nynorsk prose.