"to follow" in seven languages
Meaningto follow
Spanish
seguir
/seˈgiɾ/
inherited
Also 'to keep on': sigue lloviendo 'it's still raining'.
French
suivre
/sɥivʁ/
inherited
Italian
seguire
/seˈgwire/
inherited
Portuguese
seguir
/seˈɡih/
inherited
Romanian
urma
/urˈma/
other source · Romanian urmă 'trace, track', of disputed origin
Catalan
seguir
/səˈɡi/
inherited
English
follow
/ˈfɑloʊ/
native English · Old English folgian
English → Italianto followseguireNot relatedDifferent sources — learn this one fresh. But English has relatives: sequence, consequence, sequel, second, suit, pursue.What English and Italian share
The Latin ancestor
SEQUĪ (spoken Latin *SEQUERE)‘to follow’
All six sisters descend from it, unless marked otherwise below.
The story
Classical SEQUĪ looked passive, so spoken Latin made it a regular *SEQUERE. The qu softened to g in Spanish and Italian. English second, 'the one that follows', comes from the same verb.
English relatives: sequence, consequence, sequel, second, suit, pursue
Sound laws at work
Learn it
In a sentence
- es¡Sígueme!
- frSuivez-moi !
- itSeguimi!
- ptMe segue!
- roUrmează-mă!
- caSegueix-me!
- enFollow me!
More in Core verbs
- to save (to rescue)salvarsauversalvaresalvarsalvasalvar
- to addañadirajouteraggiungereacrescentaradăugaafegir
- to be bornnacernaîtrenascerenascernaștenéixer
- to decidedecidirdéciderdecideredecidirdecidedecidir
- to lowerbajarbaisserabbassareabaixarcoborîabaixar
- to enjoy (have, take pleasure in)gozarjouirgoderegozarse bucuragaudir