medfølge

Medfølge is a Danish verb meaning to accompany or go along with someone. It describes being in the company of another person during travel, a visit, a procedure, or an event. The action can be voluntary, as in "Hun følger ham til mødet," or used in formal contexts to indicate accompanying documentation or people.

In contemporary usage, many speakers prefer two-word constructions such as "følge med" rather than a single fused form, depending on syntactic position in the sentence. The compound adjective "medfølgende" is common in front of nouns to mean "accompanying," for example "medfølgende dokumenter" (the accompanying documents). This form is widely used in administrative, legal, and professional registers.

As a noun, medfølge is not standard in modern Danish. When referring to a person who accompanies someone, more common terms are "ledsager" (escort or companion) or context-dependent phrases rather than a standalone noun "medfølge." The sense of accompaniment can also be conveyed by existing verbs and nouns without requiring the specific noun form.

The term is sometimes conflated with medfølelse, a different word meaning compassion or sympathy. Although they share a similar root, they express distinct concepts, with medfølelse referring to emotional support rather than physical accompaniment.

Etymology: med- (with) plus følge/følge (to follow, to accompany) reflects the core meaning of bringing someone along. See also følgeskab, ledsager, medfølgende, medfølelse.