ensue
- 01 C1 Advanced
to happen after another event, especially because of it.
to occur afterward as a direct consequence or result of a preceding event.
Simple“After the two cars crashed, a loud argument ensued between the drivers.”
In context“When the government announced the new tax, widespread protests ensued across the capital, leading to a week of civil unrest.”
UsageThis verb is intransitive and does not take a direct object; you cannot 'ensue something'.
Teacher's tipLearners often confuse this with 'follow'. While 'follow' can be physical or temporal, 'ensue' almost always implies a logical or causal connection between the two events.
“A struggle ensues and the man is pulled down, with his trousers appearing to fall down, before he is arrested by officers in the garden of the property.”
“The rushed renovation that ensued – and the squabbling over whether the peeling liner was the result of vandalism – led to charges against four suspects that were eventually dropped .”
From Old French ensu-, stem of some conjugated forms of ensuivre (“follow close upon, come afterward”) (French ensuivre), from Latin īnsequere, from īnsequi (“to pursue, follow, follow after; come next”), from in- (“upon”) (see in-) + sequi (“follow”) (see sequel).
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.