efterföljande

Efterföljande is a Swedish adjective and, less commonly, a noun form derived from the verb efterfölja, meaning to follow after. The word conveys the sense of something that comes after or next in a sequence, and it is commonly used to describe items, sections, or events that follow others. As an adjective it often precedes or follows the noun it modifies, as in the following chapter or the subsequent steps.

Etymology and form: Efterföljande combines efter- (after) with följa (to follow) and adds the participial -ande ending, which in Swedish marks a present participle or an adjective. This formation is productive in describing order and sequence in formal, technical, and written Swedish.

Usage: The term is frequent in written and administrative language, legal texts, manuals, and academic writing. It is used to indicate items that come after a point of reference, for example: det efterföljande kapitlet (the following chapter), de efterföljande stegen (the subsequent steps), or i den efterföljande texten (in the text that follows). In many contexts, the more neutral följande can be used, but efterföljande emphasizes the sequence or temporal order more explicitly.

Variants and related terms: The related adjective följande also means “the following” and is more common in everyday language. Cognate forms appear in other Scandinavian languages, such as Danish efterfølgende and Norwegian etterfølgende, with similar meanings.

See also: efterföljning (the act of following after), efterträdare (successor) in different nuance contexts.

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