Following 可當介系詞、形容詞和名詞用。這個字並非動詞 follow (聽從，遵循，遵從；理解，明白；[社群媒體上的] 追蹤，關注) 的現在分詞，而是單獨存在的一個字。
Following 用作介系詞時意為「在…之後」，後接名詞片語，其前不可有定冠詞 the 或所有格代名詞。例如：
- The team blossomed following the selection and recruitment of the new players. (球隊在遴選和招募新球員後大放異彩) (正)
- Following the banquet, there will be a costume party. (宴會之後將有一場化裝舞會) (正) － costume party 為美式英語。英式英語的化裝舞會叫做 fancy-dress party。
The following banquet, there will be a costume party. (誤) - Following my teaching career, I’d like to be a writer of children’s books. (教書生涯結束後，我想當兒童文學作家) (正)
My following teaching career, I’d like to be a writer of children’s books. (誤)
Following 用作形容詞時意為「接著的；接下來的」，僅用於名詞之前，亦即其後須接名詞 (通常是時間名詞)，而且其前一定要有定冠詞 the，即 the following (= the next) + 名詞。例如：
- The problem will be discussed in the following chapter. (這問題將在下一章討論) (正)
- They married the following June. (他們在翌年六月結婚了) (正)
- John only stayed with his grandparents one night and left early the following morning. (約翰僅在他爺爺奶奶家住了一個晚上，第二天早上就提前離開了) (正)
John only stayed with his grandparents one night and left early following morning. (誤) - Unfortunately, the Prime Minister died the following day. (不幸地，總理第二天就過世了)
Unfortunately, the Prime Minister died following day. (誤)
Following 用作名詞時意為「下列的人事物；下述的人事物」，用於列舉，其前一定要有定冠詞 the。Following 本身恆為單數，若 the following 當主詞，則動詞視其所列舉的人事物來決定單複數。例如：
- I don’t like eating any of the following: cauliflower, onions, green peppers, and bean sprouts. (我不喜歡吃下列任何一種蔬菜：花椰菜、洋蔥、青椒和豆芽菜) (正)
- The recipe needs the following: brown sugar, flour, and eggs. (這道食譜需要下列配料：紅糖、麵粉和雞蛋) (正)
- The following is an extract from his novel. (下面是摘錄自他小說中的一段) (正)
The following are an extract from his novel. (誤) - The following have given me some good advice on which web hosting plan to use: Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos, and Elon Musk. (下列人士都給了我一些有關採用何種網頁主機方案不錯的建議：比爾‧蓋茲、傑夫‧貝佐斯和伊隆‧馬斯克) (正)
The following has given me some good advice on which web hosting plan to use: Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos, and Elon Musk. (誤)
不過，這裡的 the following 其實亦可當形容詞用，與上述的 the following 形容詞用法完全一樣，只是它的意思並非「接著的；接下來的」，而是「下列的；下述的」。例如：
- I don’t like eating any of the following vegetables: cauliflower, onions, green peppers, and bean sprouts. (我不喜歡吃下列任何一種蔬菜：花椰菜、洋蔥、青椒和豆芽菜) (正)
- The recipe needs the following ingredients: brown sugar, flour, and eggs. (這道食譜需要下列配料：紅糖、麵粉和雞蛋) (正)