follow
ˈfɑːloʊ
Follow is not trailing behind — it is putting your foot on the line already laid
The picture Whatever went ahead leaves a line behind it, and you set your feet onto that line one step at a time. Lead is laying the line out in front; follow is putting your feet onto that line from behind.
Where the picture shows up in follow
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onto a line a person laid
Follow me and I will show you the room.
ˈfɑːloʊ miː ənd aɪ wɪl ʃoʊ juː ðə ruːm
Come with me and I will show you the room.
Your feet land one by one in the footprints of the person walking ahead.
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onto a line the instructions laid
Please follow the instructions on the box.
pliːz ˈfɑːloʊ ðə ɪnˈstrʌkʃənz ɑːn ðə bɑːks
Just do what it says on the box.
A hand moves across steps one, two, three printed on the back of the box.
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onto a line the timetable laid
A short break follows the morning session.
ə ʃɔːrt breɪk ˈfɑːloʊz ðə ˈmɔːrnɪŋ ˈseʃən
There is a short break after the morning session.
The break slot sits neatly in the row right behind the morning slot.
A follows B says B is in front and A comes behind it.
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feet slipping off the line of a sentence
Sorry, I do not follow you.
ˈsɑːri aɪ duː nɑːt ˈfɑːloʊ juː
Sorry, you have lost me.
The speaker's words have run on ahead and your feet have stopped halfway along the line.
I do not follow is the gentle way of saying you are lost.
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onto the line a story lays daily
Are you following the news about the strike?
ɑːr juː ˈfɑːloʊɪŋ ðə nuːz əˈbaʊt ðə straɪk
Have you been keeping up with the strike?
Each new day's article extends the line, and your eyes step onto one more square of it.
All of it in one picture
Follow is setting your foot on a line already laid. If a person laid it, you are walking behind them; if the box laid it, you are doing as instructed; if the timetable laid it, your turn comes after theirs. When a sentence lays a line your feet cannot reach, you do not follow, and when you step onto the line of a running story every day, you are following the news.